Vanishing Point
by touyatouya
Summary: -Discontinued- Fayt Leingod has been on Elicoor for weeks now... But while his presence warms the heart of one old companion, another is much worried by his absence and determined to take matters into her own hands. Or the hands of a certain Klausian.
1. Pieces

**VANISHING POINT**

_A Star Ocean 3 Fanfic by Ender_

**Chapter One: Pieces**

Something was missing.

"Try it again," said Nel Zelpher, her voice cool and professional. "But this time, try to make me believe you're taking this seriously."

The young woman – little more than a girl – standing before the red head swallowed hard, then charged, letting out a war cry, fists flailing in a move that seemed more like an act of desperation than an attack. Nel sidestepped deftly and casually – yet none too gently - knocked the younger woman onto her back.

Something was missing.

"And what, exactly, was that supposed to be?" snapped the leader of the Crimson Blades, as the young trainee struggled to catch her breath. "Don't they teach you people anything at the academy anymore? Belaine, you are training to battle, not to gamble - and as such the last thing you should be depending on is dumb luck!"

The young woman blanched, and tried to stammer a response. "But, but, Lady Nel… I thought…"

"No – you didn't," Nel replied shortly, trying in vain to keep the disdain from her voice. "That was the entire problem."

Striving to hide her impatience, the red-head turned away from her fallen opponent. Nel did not see the look of sheer hatred Belaine through her way as the Crimson Blade addressed Tynave, who was standing nearby with Farleen, both of whom wore somewhat shocked expressions.

"Take over," Nel told the blonde agent, as the red-head began to walk away from the practice field. "I'm already going to be late for the debriefing with Magister Laselle as it is, and its obvious I won't be of any more use here."

Tynave saluted smartly but then fell into step beside her superior. "Lady… don't you think you're going too far? She came all the way from Airyglyph to train with us – the heat here is very hard on her… Belaine has only been with us for a month."

Nel sighed in exasperation. "Indeed she has – and what has she learned in that month? Nothing that showed today at the very least. If we're going to rebuild our forces, we're going to need to be able to- " the red-head stopped speaking suddenly as she felt a wave of warmth from behind her.

"Lady Nel – look out!" Farleen cried, but Nel was already moving, pushing Tynave to one side as she herself ducked and rolled under the respectably sized fireball. Before anyone else could so much as blink, Nel's blade was at Belaine's throat and her hand gripped the younger woman's blue-black hair, before the trainee could even lower her outstretched arms.

"Better," Nel said in a calm voice, "But today's lesson is for physical attacks, not runology. For example- " The Crimson Blade leader switched her grip on Belaine's hair and smoothly threw the trainee against the wall of the practice field.

Nel gazed in cold fury at the dazed young woman, but willed herself to calm down. The fireball had not been of enough size or strength to be a serious attack – mostly flash and no substance. If Belaine had really attempted to kill her, Nel would have ordered her immediate incarceration… as it was, no matter how personally affronted Nel was, the spell had been nothing more than insubordination. Not that Nel was inclined to treat the latter any more lightly than the former…

"Continue the session, with five extra hours – of both runology and physicals," Nel instructed Tynave and Farleen as they rushed to her. "If she has enough energy for a fireball spell, she has enough energy for at least that much training."

The Crimson Blade turned swiftly on her heel, brushing off some dirt from her scarf.

"And when she comes to – tell her that the next time she wants to try something as idiotic as that… She'd better be good enough to finish the job."

* * *

Nel sighed, her heels drumming lightly against the ramparts of the Kirlsa Training Facility as she looked out across the surrounding dry, night enshrouded landscape, her thoughts awhirl and her heart heavy.

Something was missing, and others were beginning to notice.

It had been a long day. Meeting with Laselle was never a pleasant task, and before she could return to her quarters, Claire had cornered her by the chapel. Her silver-haired friend was beginning to grow concerned over Nel's recent behavior.

_"You've been tense and irritated almost from the moment you returned," Claire had said, her eyes full of worry. "This isn't like you."_

"_I've been busy," Nel had replied curtly, but her friend had been unwilling to let it go at that. _

"_It's more than that. You've always loved your work, but lately you're drowning yourself in it. Doing more doesn't necessarily mean you're doing better Nel…"_

_Nel's eyes had narrowed. "Is that a complaint about how I've been doing my job Claire?"_

"_No!" the other woman had replied, exasperated. "It's not – why are you being so defensive? It's just that you act as if you're… you're trying to distract yourself from something, and its making you miserable… Not to mention the people around you. And then there was that incident this morning…"_

"_Ah – so that's what this is about. It's not the first time that I bruised a trainee's pride in exercises."_

"_But it's the first time one of them has actually attacked you afterwards!" Claire had insisted. "Doesn't that tell you anything? You've changed Nel!" _

Nel had tried to shake her mind free of the conversation, but Claire's words had stayed with her, and had led her once more to seek refuge in the old Training Facility. While there was talk of Airyglyph recomissioning the structure, for now it was a ghost fortress, inhabited by nothing but dust and shadows…And, for Nel, bittersweet memories.

They rolled over her like a wave. The first time she had stepped into these halls, alone and ready to die for her friends – and surprised when she discovered others were willing to do the same for her. And the last time she was here… and the tragedy that had led her on a journey to the edges of the universe – and beyond.

She sighed again, more quietly this time. Maybe she _had_ changed… it was next to impossible to go through what she had gone through, and _not_ change. Nel looked out at the world that, all of a sudden, seemed small to her… Even she had begun to call it Elicoor now. The Crimson Blade leant against the stone, her face to the starry heavens, and wondered at the suns and the planets that lay, just beyond her vision… And all the people who lived, just beyond her reach.

_I wonder how he's doing… _

The thought had come unbidden, and shocking in its clarity. Nel shut her eyes tight and forced the thought down, down into her subconscious, but a noise from below brought her back to the present. Cautious by nature, the Crimson Blade peaked over the rampart towards the large, open arena that lay below her. In the darkness, she could barely make out anything, but there was enough light that she could make out the shambling figure making its way to the center of the arena.

Nel's sensed trouble – the facility was supposed to be abandoned. It had been locked and sealed, and few people had the ability – such as she herself – to enter the complex as things stood, and even fewer would have had a good reason to do so. But then, the stooped figure hardly looked like a bandit or a smuggler, and he appeared to be unarmed. Nel was still deciding on a course of action when the figure suddenly dropped to his knees.

In a flash Nel was over the rampart, and at the side of the man. "Are you alright sir? It's dangerous here…" she asked then stopped, her mouth open in shock. Even haggard with fatigue and gaunt with hunger, she recognized that face… the azure of his hair and of the eyes that stared sadly into her own.

"Nel..." he said, in a tired voice, too old for his age, "Nel… Did we win?"

_"Fayt?" _

He smiled, once, then collapsed at her feet.

* * *

_Author's Notes: _

_First fanfic in awhile – but what can I say? I love Star Ocean 3 and Nel too much not to give it a try – even with my sporadic schedule :P Comments and feedback is always welcome, and will help convince me to make time to see this fic through. What to expect? Nel x Fayt – but not without complications, as well as a plot which ventures across some ground not covered in the game itself. Oh, and did I mention NelFayt? _

_As for the title… Here's what our friendly dictionary has to say:_

**van·ish·ing point**

_n._

**1. **

**a. **The point at which parallel lines receding from an observer seem to converge.

**b. **The point in linear perspective at which all imaginary lines of perspective converge.

**2. **The point at which a thing disappears or ceases to exist.

_By the end of this story, all three of these definitions will have taken some sort of meaning in the story. I'll give you the first one – this will be the story of how the lives of Nel and Fayt will converge and intertwine as time goes by. _

_The others – well, you'll find out soon enough _


	2. Ripples

**VANISHING POINT**

_A Star Ocean 3 Fanfic by Ender_

**Chapter Two: Ripples**

The door was nothing out of the ordinary.

The wood was a dark, if muted, brown, the grains visible to the naked eye, the knob made of burnished brass, positioned at a place of easy access to anyone of average height. Of course most 'doors' where Fayt had grown up were very different – sliding metal panels, airtight access barriers, solid-light field projections... But Fayt had spent enough time in medieval worlds, both imagined and real, to know what it was. The boy looked to the right, and to the left, and was somehow unsurprised to find himself in a corridor peppered with doors that were twin to the one he had before him. Briefly, he wondered why he was here, but soon he felt his eyes drawn back to the door in front of him. Surely, he must have come here to open a door – what else could be done in this place? Thinking that one would be as good as any other, Fayt reached out his hand to the doorknob and twisted, pushing outwards as he stepped into –

- the strangest party he had ever seen.

"Fayt!" the revelers greeted him, showering him with laughter and confetti as the door closed behind him. There were easily over a hundred people crammed inside a room which he could hardly see because of the sheer press of bodies – but he was somewhat surprised to realize he recognized them all. Over there were his University friends, busy cajoling the strange craftsman Vanilla to drink more beer than was probably advisable. Over there Ursus the Strongman was engaged in an arm-wrestling match with Crosell, and winning quite handily. Just to his right a group a group of reformed henchmen of Norton had broken out into song, and were being hushed by an irritated-looking Belzeber.

The boy felt a hand on his shoulder. "Glad to see you could finally join us son," said his father as he smiled down at Fayt. Beside him stood Sophia, Maria, Mirage and Nel, all wearing somewhat diaphanous looking gowns of brown, blue, yellow and red respectively. His Father had one arm each around Maria and Sophia,."What took you so long?"

"Dad..." Fayt replied, a trifle confused. This felt... wrong, somehow... Yet everyone around him seemed to be having so much fun.

"Dad," Fayt asked, "What are we celebrating?"

Professor Leingod laughed. "Oh Fayt, how could you even forget? We're celebrating your victory... Or have you forgotten that we saved the universe as well?"

Fayt turned away from his father and looked around him at the various creatures laughing, eating, and dancing. The universe... Yes, yes they'd saved the universe. He couldn't quite remember how, but... Yes, he was sure of it. They had won!

Hadn't they?

There was a flicker of darkness at the edge of Fayt's vision. The boy turned back swiftly, but all he saw was his Father's smiling face. Except... was it just him or were there less people than he remembered?

His Father shook his head, still smiling. "Fayt, Fayt... Have you forgotten everything? You mustn't let your attention wander too much- "

Another patch of shadow moved across the corner of his sight – the boy turned his head swiftly to catch it, but it stayed just barely out of reach. But wait... Hadn't Ursus and Crosell just been having a match at that table over there? Now the only one Fayt could see was a rather despondent looking Commodore Wittcomb.

"-otherwise, we lose our existence..."

Fayt blinked, and now, there was no trace of Wittcomb, or even the furniture – just a... an emptiness in space, like something had been erased. Deleted.

"No... No, this isn't happening," Fayt said as he turned back to his Father. Only Nel and Sophia remained with his Dad... but Nel was wearing her usual battle gear, and a stern expression, while Sophia looked more like Ameena than anything else.

"We won... We survived!" Fayt exclaimed. "Everything was okay!"

"Of course you did son," Professor Leingod said in a patronizing voice. Why did Fayt only just now realize how much his father looked like... Like the Creator? "You found the chink in the armor, the loop in the equation – as long as we think, then we exist, is it not? But then tell me Fayt..."

Fayt tried to keep his eyes open, but he found them growing heavy. He blinked once. Ameena disappeared. He blinked twice. Nel disappeared... All he could see was Luther's smiling face.

"... What happens when you go to sleep?"

* * *

Nel Zelpher stood rigidly at attention outside the door to her room at the Palace of Aquios, her arms crossed tightly in front of her, but ready and able to sweep her twin blades out of their scabbards at a moments notice. From within her room came the sounds of runological magic being cast, and the muttered consultations of experts in the medical arts. They were the best in the nation, maybe the best in this world, at what they did, and Nel knew they were giving this their best...

... But it was all she could do to keep herself from breaking down the door and screaming at them to do their job.

"Stop worrying," Claire told her. The Commander of the Shield Legion was seated nearby, looking – to Nel at least – to be much too calm given the circumstances.

"Who said I was worried?" Nel replied, a tad too hastily, "Besides, even if I were, you are the last person from whom I'd take advice on this subject. Don't forget, I know how you get when you send anyone out on a mission."

"That's true," Claire admitted, "But then, as you say, I'm an expert at worrying about other people. You on the other hand..."

Nel was hurt. "I worry about my people, you know that..." she began, but Claire held up a hand.

"When you have to, but you tend to avoid the matter entirely by trying to do all the dangerous things yourself ... so, in this matter at least, I think I'm qualified to be giving you advice."

The redhead made a non-committal noise... Claire was much more agile with words than Nel would ever be and arguments with her were usually an exercise in futility. The silver-haired woman stood up and put a hand on Nel's shoulder.

"He'll be fine."

The red-haired woman allowed herself a small smile. "Of course he will. He's saved the universe... He's indestructible."

Claire didn't answer. Both of them knew all to well Nel's words were more wish than fact.

_But what could have done this to him?_

The last time Nel had lain eyes on Fayt Leingod, the young man had been bidding her farewell. The Diplo had stopped at Elicoor II in order to discharge those who called it home. It had been a bittersweet parting, moreso for Nel than she liked to admit: For most of their time together, they had clung on to survival by a thread, and it was not until after the victory that it had truly sunk in any of their minds that their time together had abruptly come to a close. If the Crimson Blade closed her eyes, she could still summon up the image of Fayt as he said his farewells to each of them, finally approaching her with a smile on his face, deep blue eyes unreadable, but far too old for his face.

"_I never did get to apologize properly for not being an Engineer from Greeton did I?"_

"_That's alright," she had replied, her throat feeling dry, "Forgive me for threatening to kill you on more than one occasion, and we'll call it even."_

"_Oh that's quite alright Lady Nel," Fayt had replied mock magnanimously, "I'm sure you didn't mean it."_

_The red-head had smiled. "Well..." she said, and they both laughed. For a moment, he looked as if he was going to say something more, but then he had surprised her by engulfing her in a deep hug. It was a full three seconds before she recovered enough to hug him back._

"_Take care of yourself Nel," he had said. Then he was gone, returned to the stars from whence he came. Nel had wondered if she would ever see him again._

And now he lay, not five meters from her, lying on the edge of death.

The door to her room opened and a ragged looking Elena stepped out. Instantly Nel was beside her, a thousand questions springing to mind, but the senior Runologist held up a hand.

"Give us a few seconds," Elena said, as another pair of Runologists emerged from Nel's chambers, "It was... more difficult than we'd expected."

Nel began to count to five, then gave up at three. "What's wrong with him?"

The white-haired Head of Aquaria's First Runological Weapons Division shook her head. "He's famished and exhausted. I don't think he's had a bite to eat or a wink of sleep in the past fifteen days."

Claire blinked once. "That... That's it? It seems so... anticlimactic."

Elena stared hard at Nel's closest friend. "It's a serious matter. Food deprivation is one thing, but a normal person can only go around twelve days without sleep without permanent damage being done to his system. His body was filled with some foreign substance that was keeping him at a minimal level of awareness far beyond what is safe and proper for a human, hero or no."

"Poison?" Nel asked immediately, but Elena was already shaking her head.

"Well, it certainly isn't a healthy substance, but I don't think it was ingested as such. I remember Fayt telling me about certain substances that people on his planet sometimes inject into their systems to fool their body into thinking it was healthy and well rested – a benign effect, but as with anything, it could be poisonous if taken in too large an amount."

The red-haired woman pondered this for a moment. She had seen some of the crew of the Diplo engaging in such practices during her time on the ship... But surely Fayt knew the dangers in the substances – why then would he subject himself to them? Nel found it difficult to believe that Fayt himself was to blame for his condition. No – it had to be someone else.

And Apris help them when she found out who they were.

"Nel?" Claire said quietly, interrupting her friend's vengeful thoughts. "Are you alright? Perhaps its time you yourself turned in... You've had quite the night."

Nel waived away her concern. "I'm fine," she said swiftly, before turning to Elena. "May I see him?"

The Weapon's Division Chief hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Go ahead. Don't expect him to wake for another few hours though... We hit him with enough soporific spells to down Crosell."

Nel nodded and entered her room, followed quickly by Claire. The two women took opposite positions by Fayt's bedside, and gazed down at his restlessly sleeping form.

"Oh, my..." Claire murmured, but Nel kept silent, her arms crossed tightly across her chest. She couldn't really find the words.

Earlier, when she had been carrying him on her shoulders, racing towards the Dragon Knight Garrison stationed near the Training Facility, she had kept her mind occupied with curses at her inability to recognize him sooner. No however, even in the dim light of her room, she began to think it was a miracle she had recognized him at all. By the end of their adventures, Fayt's physique had been forged by battle and necessity into a tool of war, lithe and athletic and – while no Klausian – powerfully built. Since they had last seen each other though, it appeared as if the blue-haired boy had lost at least forty pounds, leaving him looking as fragile as the last leaf in autumn. And his face... his eyes were imprisoned in dark circles, worry lines furrowing his brow like a well-tilled field, even in his sleep. Nel felt her hands clench into fists.

_Fayt... who did this to you?_

Just then, Nel heard a slight noise, and turned to see Claire looking out the doorway, her mouth turned slightly down.

"Lasselle is coming this way," Claire said, in a voice that was carefully devoid of any hint of her feelings towards that man. Not that Nel needed any reminder – she shared Claire's opinion.

"Bar the door," Nel instructed one of the runologists who remained inside the room, before stepping outside and placing herself squarely in Lasselle's path, Claire at her side.

"Good morning to you, Magistrate," Claire greeted the man, who merely grunted in reply. His heavy-lidded eyes and rumpled clothing proclaimed that he had but recently been roused from his sleep.

"What is all this ruckus about? What are you three still doing up at this ungodly hour?"

"Ah..." Claire began, throwing a clandestine look at her friend. Nel shook her head slightly – Lasselle had never trusted Fayt, and the Crimson Blade was loathe to give the Magistrate more information than he needed to know.

For all his faults however, Lasselle was not stupid, an his information network rivaled that of the Crimson Blade. "So it _is _true..." he said, "_He_ has returned hasn't he... And brought another fresh calamity down upon our heads I'm certain." The Magistrate tried to sidestep Nel and Claire but the red-head calmly moved to block his path.

"I'm sorry Magistrate, but Fayt is currently in delicate condition. We can question him as to the purpose of his return after he has recovered."

Lasselle raised an eyebrow. "He is injured?"

"He is fatigued to the edge of endurance your Excellency," Elena answered. "With care and our spells, we should be able to have him healthy again after two weeks or so-"

The man broke in. "Completely unacceptable."

"What?" Nel snapped coldly, rank forgotten as her eyes narrowed dangerously. If Lasselle noticed, her tone, he ignored it.

"The very presence of this man brings about calamity. He is a danger to the realm – nay, to our entire world. He must be removed from the palace at once."

"Fayt is a _savior_ of our world," Nel responded, trying to keep a rein on her temper, "Nay, savior to our universe – if that word means anything to you.  Exactly how many times must he prove that?"

"Saving us from dangers he himself brings upon our heads," Lasselle scoffed. "He is a danger to all those around him – amongst whom, thanks to your thoughtless charity, we can now number, the Queen you have sworn to serve!"

"If you think I will leave him out in the cold to die," Nel replied, in a voice that could freeze hell twice-over, "After all that he has done for us... then you are sadly, grievously, mistaken."

Lasselle's brows came together like snarling dogs, his voice rising into a shout. "You will stand aside Lady Nel Zelpher of the Crimson Blades, or so help me I'll- "

"You _really _don't want to mess with me Lasselle," Nel interrupted. "Not today. Not over this- "

"Enough!" Claire's harsh shout cut through their argument like an axe cleaves a tree. "This is senseless, and unbecoming of us all." Nel's friend was all business, her eyes raking both parties first before softening, and settling on the red-haired woman. "Nel, your father left you a sizeable rest-house just outside of Paterny did he not? Once Fayt has been stabilized, it might be better to move him there... You can use that Dragon Knight you bullied to bring him here in the first place. It will certainly be more restful at the Estate than it would be staying in the Castle's guest room." Claire then turned her gaze to Lasselle. "That should be enough to address your concerns about the Queen's safety your Excellency. I understand your concern about the possible threat Fayt's presence poses, but you must not close your eyes to the benefits as well – his reputation is fearsome enough that his mere presence in the country will be enough to give our enemies pause."

Both Nel and Lasselle seemed displeased by Claire's solution, but both grudgingly accepted it.

"I suppose I have little choice in the mater, unless I want a rebellion on my hands," the Magistrate said accusingly, but Nel ignored him, turning instead to Elena.

"How long before we can move him?"

"Anytime you're ready," the older woman replied. "The spells should ensure that he's deep in sleep, no matter how bumpy the ride gets."

Nel nodded, and made her decision. Part of her still wanted to press the issue, even raise it to the Queen if need be, to place Lasselle in his place. His ingratitude over all Fayt had done for them rankled the Crimson Blade. But, as always, Nel kept her focus on the task at hand. All that mattered now was getting Fayt somewhere safe, where he could regain his strength, and the Estate would be perfect for that. Time enough to settle scores later on...

"Then I'll meet you in the courtyard – we leave at once," Nel spared one last, cold, look for Lasselle before sweeping past him and heading towards the stables. Maybe it would be better to let Fayt recover away from the Palace... At the very least, her Estate didn't have any over-bearing Magistrates.

* * *

Fayt awoke, a half swallowed cry in his throat, his arms reaching out to grasp something, anything – to make contact somehow with what he had thought was real.

Instead, it was he who was grasped, his shoulders pushed back gently until he was lying back down on a soft bed.

"What..." he murmured drowsily, "Where...?"

"It's alright," Fayt heard a voice, a familiar voice, reassuring him. "I've got you. You're safe here."

His eyes were already trying to close of their own accord, but not before he could make out the lithe form silhouetted above him. "...Nel?" he whispered.

"Yes," she answered, dabbing a wet cloth against his forehead. "Don't try to talk... just rest. Sleep. You need it."

_Sleep?_ "No..." he objected, "Mustn't... sleep... Mustn't..."

"You must," Nel insisted. "Your body can't take anymore of this. Rest now and I'll watch over you."

His hand found hers then, and gripped it tightly. For a second he managed to open his eyes, and his words, half-filled with his delirium, spilled desperately from his mouth.

"No... You'll go... You'll disappear... Just like everything else... Deleted... Gone..."

She shushed him gently. "I won't. I promise. I'll be right here when you wake."

Fayt's breathing calmed slightly. Runology induced sleep was claiming him once more. "You're... you're sure? You promise?" he asked, the world spinning slowly but dizzyingly.

Slowly, yet firmly, her hand enveloped his own.

"I promise Fayt. I will keep you safe."

From another person, those might have just been words. But, even half-asleep as he was, Fayt knew this was Nel talking... And Nel never, ever broke her promises.

That night, for the first time in two weeks, Fayt Leingod slept... But did not dream.

_

* * *

__AUTHOR'S NOTES:_

_Wow... Twice as long as Chapter One. I hope I don't fall back into the habit of long chapters..._

_Most of the 'action' here is on an internal level, and I hope that didn't put off too many of you. I had to deal with the (immediate) reason why Fayt is in such a sorry state, and with Nel's feelings seeing him as such. It was also cool to actually have a bit of confrontation with Lasselle – I kept hoping I would get to slug him during the game :P I actually do think he's a good man... A jerk, but a good man :P_

_Now, comments to some of the reviews:_

_Lightgazer: I hope some of your questions about the 'direction' of the story got answered here, but in all honesty, the' real' driving force of the events of this story will be revealed fairly slowly. I don't think its until we reach halfway that you'll really understand the full extent of what is going on... sort of like in the game itself :P_

_Dark Drow: Actually I saw a couple of Nel/Fayt fics on site before I uploaded mine. Chronologically though, I may be the first to upload a series... But hopefully not the last. There can't be too many good Nel/Fayt fics!_

_Obsidian Ideals: Man I hope you keep reviewing my fics... Ive seen your reviews, and they're very, very helpful I'm not trying to show a changed Nel so much as showing Nel in a bad mood – from the way people seem to equate "Nel in a Bad Mood" with a fleet of Celestial Ships, I wanted to show how scar-ee Nel indeed can get. Now that Fayt's here, maybe we'll see a bit of improvement in her disposition (Note I said 'maybe'... No one can get under our skins better than the ones we love...)_

_Next Chapter: Some physical conflict to go along with the mental. Plus: Nel gets domestic :P_


	3. Care Part 1

**VANISHING POINT**

_A Star Ocean 3 Fanfic by Ender_

**Chapter Three: Care (Part 1 of 2)**

It was the greatest challenge Nel had ever faced.

The red-haired swordswoman took a deep, calming breath and readied herself. She had done her best – there was nothing more that could be asked of her. Her blade ran red with blood, her fingers numbed from innumerable slices. All that was left was to wait – and pray. Finally, when she thought the time was ripe, she stabbed downwards, impaled her target –

- then took a bite.

Crunk!

_Damnit... still too tough,_ Nel sighed to herself as she spat the unmasticated piece of meat back onto the platter. So much for the Marbled Sirloin 1000... More like the 'mangled' sirloin now. That's what she got for shooting beyond her means. Contrary to the stereotype many held about strong-willed women, Nel was hardly the world's worst cook. It was just that, as a soldier, the only types of meals that she had bothered to learn were the simple, quick meals that filled one's belly and did little else. Deciding to cook something more than military chow for Fayt was well and good, but actually creating something other than a leather-tough chunk of meat was proving to be exceedingly difficult.

_Guess its back to Beef Stew, _the Crimson Blade sighed to herself. Not that her house guest had been complaining about her menu – far from it. Over the past week that Fayt had been billeted at the old Manor House Nel's father had owned, here on the outskirts of Paterny, the Earther had been nothing if not appreciative and grateful. No matter how plain the food she gave him was, he always accepted it graciously, protesting that she was babying him too much. Fayt was, he would claim, on the road to recovery, and really didn't need Nel to watch his every move.

If only that were true.

Certainly, Fayt's physical condition had improved with regular food and rest, but... there was a deeper problem here than just physical exhaustion. Nel could see it in Fayt's expression when he thought she wasn't looking, a melancholy that crept into his blue eyes and lodged there... like a vulture, awaiting the inevitable death of its prey. Once, after she had brought him his breakfast, she had left on an errand only to return hours later to find that he had not even touched his food, his eyes merely staring sightlessly at nothing... or, at least, something that only he could see.

The frustrating thing was, she still didn't know why. The red-haired young woman had been loathe to approach the subject of Fayt's return directly, afraid that her friend had suffered some sort of emotional trauma. From what she had gathered from bits and pieces of their conversations, the last two weeks had passed by in a blur for Fayt – he had muttered something once about dreams, but had refused to elaborate when Nel had gently prodded him about it. His ship was 'cloaked', as he put it, somewhere near Kirlsa, but as to the reason why he had come to Elicoor, Nel was almost completely in the dark.

"Breakfast," she said, as she rapped lightly on the door to the room she had given him, carrying the now customary bread and stew on a platter, which she carried with her left hand. Even if this was, technically, her house, she'd learned the hard way that it paid to give fair warning as to her arrival. Nel's face grew warm as image from the last time she had entered the room unannounced flashed across her minds eye.

"Good morning Jailer Nel," Fayt joked, as she opened the door. He was sitting on a double-bed, propped against pillows, the morning sun bathing his face in dusty light. He smiled at her as she entered, but, perhaps due to the amount of time they had spent together, Nel could see that it was half forced.

Still, as always, she played along . "You call me that often enough, and the two of us might start believing it," she said, as she set down the tray on a chest-high night-table beside the bed. "And trust me, you wouldn't want to see what I do to prisoners. Now eat."

As Fayt dipped his spoon into the stew, Nel observed him with a clinical eye. She was finding it more difficult to be objective than she would have thought it would be. Nel was somewhat startled to realize how much seeing Fayt in such bad state distressed her: at times she was not sure if he truly did look better, or if it was just her ardent wish that made it seem so. _He deserves better than this,_ she thought to herself, more than once. But then, life had already taught her the lesson that very few people get what they deserve.

She started wondering again, as she tended to do lately, why he had returned to Elicoor. Nel knew that his plans had been to go with Sophia and meet his mother and her parents, at the Federation planet where they had been in hiding... she knew that it was a reunion that he had been longing for during their entire journey, so she was certain that only the most compelling of reasons would make him leave once more.

Perhaps it was because there was someone who _wouldn't_ be joining them. It would certainly explain why he had been at Kirlsa. Nel had been there when Fayt's father had been murdered, and although she had been almost mortally wounded at the time, she still bore in her heart a scare of shame and regret that she had not been able to do anything to prevent it. Fayt had been instrumental in saving all that Nel held dear, and the fact that she had been unable to return the favor – it rankled more than she was willing to admit.

Still, there was something lacking... it didn't explain his condition, nor his sometimes cryptic comments. The only thing Nel was certain of, was that whatever was bothering Fayt, it made sleep unbearable. While the young man did eat when she instructed him to, he would at best feign sleeping, forcing Nel to resort more often than not to surreptitiously resort to runological methods – and Fayt was always distressed when he awoke the next morning... As if somehow, he was surprised to still be there.

The realization that Fayt wasn't eating pulled Nel from her ruminations. The blue haired boy was once more staring off into space, his spoon making dull noises as it languidly swirled around the edges of the bowl.

"That bad is it?" Nel asked archly, masking her worry with irritation.

Fayt blinked slowly, then turned to her as if surprised to find her still there. "Uhm no, its just that... I'm not really hungry."

Nel shook her head. "That's irrelevant. You need to eat to recover your strength." She gave him a small smile. "It's bad for morale when the savior of the universe looks more like a scarecrow than a hero."

Her friend's face clouded over suddenly, and he turned away. "I... I'd really rather not."

Had she stuck a nerve? Why would reminding him of their victory make him close himself so? Perhaps now would be as good a time as any to try to find out what was bothering him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked him, seating herself on the edge of the bed.

Fayt shook his head. "I'm fine Nel... really," he paused then, as if about to say something else, but then shook his head again. "It's not something you'd be able to help me with anyway..." he said, in a softer voice – one that nonetheless reached Nel's ears.

"Oh? Is that so..." this time the slight annoyance she felt was not feigned. Regardless of having been in the presence of god-like beings whose powers far dwarfed her own, Nel had never liked feeling useless. Especially when she wasn't even given a chance to make an attempt. Shifting her position on the bed, she spooned up a large portion of the soup.

"Fine then. I guess the only thing I can do is make sure your body doesn't rot while your mind is off pondering such weighty matters... So you're going to eat even if I have to feed you myself."

That got a reaction out of him. "What are you – you're not serious..." Fayt said with wide eyes.

"You should know me better by now Fayt – I'm _always_ serious."

The young man tried to escape, but in a flash Nel was sitting atop of him, her knees clamping around his waist while she held the bowl of stew in one hand. Her other hand held the spoon pointed at his mouth like a weapon.

"Now – open up," she ordered, what may or may not have been a triumphant glint in her eyes.

"Ah, no, wait a second -!" Fayt protested, just before the door to the room opened.

"Lady Nel? We – oh my!"

It's a testament to the sharpness of mind of the Crimson Blade that it only took her half a second to realize exactly _what_ it would_ look_ like they were doing, and the rest of the second to flip herself off the bed and back onto the floor – but not before she had rammed the spoon and its contents into Fayt's gaping mouth.

"How many times do I have to tell you to knock before entering?" Nel said, a slight lilt in her voice the only indication of her displeasure as she turned to Tynave and Farleen, who were both blushing and studiously – if belatedly – looking everywhere _but_ at their leader and the now spluttering Fayt.

"Ahm, erm... Sorry Lady Nel," Tynave said contritely.

"Sorry Lady Nel," Farleen echoed. "I guess we're just not used to you having company..."

"Or at least, not enjoying the company so mu- oof!" Tynave whispered – or thought she whispered - before she was cut off by a quick elbow from her companion.

"Shut _up_ Ty," Farleen hissed. "We're in enough trouble already."

Nel shook her head. Honestly, sometimes it seemed like the two of them put up these performances just to make sure her day never got tedious. "We'll talk about it later," she promised, "But since you're already here, you might as well give me your report."

The two soldiers snapped to attention at her words. "Yes ma'am," Farleen said, but then she paused and gave a surreptitious glance at Fayt, who was still coughing. (Maybe Nel had pushed the spoon in a bit too hard?) Looking from the swordsman to her purple haired subordinate, Nel nodded, and gestured slightly to one side. Farleen whispered something to Tynave, then moved towards the corner of the room that Nel had indicated while Tynave went to try to keep Fayt from choking to death. It was not that she didn't trust Fayt – far from it. They'd placed their lives in each other's hands so often now it was almost a habit. But he was still recuperating and obviously had enough on his mind – Nel didn't want to chance that hearing the report would give him more to worry about. Especially if it was the one she had been expecting to receive.

"We finally received our report from our Agents in Paterny," Farleen informed her superior. "There _is_ something brewing. There's been a lot of backroom activity amongst the more powerful merchants. Normally this would result in some sort of fluctuation in the markets but for the past month, prices have been holding remarkably steady – too steady. We've been unable to get any details yet, but signs point to some sort of coup – something that would sever ties of the city with Aquios."

The Crimson Blade crossed her arms across her chest, mind working fast. "If they're planning to secede, they'll need a larger military than the city garrison. Any indication of Airyglyph involvement?" She knew that, on one hand, she shouldn't be asking such a question – technically Aquaria and Airyglyph were at peace, with the future looking only brighter with the impending wedding of Rosalia and Airyglyph's King. On the other hand though, it was _exactly_ the right question to ask – until recently the northern nation had been the most hated of Aquaria's foes, and such enmity does not die easily – and neither did Nel's mistrust.

But this time, she was wrong. "Not a one," Farleen replied, "There's no indication that any outside force at all is involved... Of course the truce has resulted in an upswing of Glyphian merchants, but we've been watching them like hawks."

"And?"

"No suspicious activity at all."

The red-head sighed. This didn't make sense. It was theoretically possible that the merchants would believe that they could hold the city with the garrison alone – but Nel knew their type. They were business people... They wouldn't take any action unless they had minimized their risk and maximized their profits.

"I'm missing something," she murmured to herself.

Farleen remained quiet for a second or two, looking uneasy, before speaking again. "Lady Nel, there's one other thing I have to report. It's – it's really just rumor and conjecture, no solid data as of yet- "

"What is it?" Nel asked.

The purple haired woman hesitated for a moment, then replied. "Some of our agents have heard that a band of Aquarian soldiers from outside the city would provide the military might for the cessesion... And that their leader is one of the Crimson Blade."

Nel's eyes grew wide. "What? Who?"

Farleen raised her hands helplessly. "We don't have a name – we don't even know if it's just a rumor..."

The red-head took a calming breath, then began to move towards the door of the room. "Then I'll have to find out myself."

"What? No, Lady Nel," Her friend and aide replied. "That's not what we came here for – Tynave and I can handle- "

"I'm sure you can," Nel replied, her eyes boring into Farleen's. "But this changes everything – you know that as well as I do." The purple haired woman bowed her head. "I will handle this personally."

"And what of Master Fayt?" her friend asked then, and Nel turned to her erstwhile patient, who was currently trying, rather desperately it seemed, to explain something to Tynave. "Do you want us to watch over him while you're gone?"

Nel shut her eyes a moment. She thought of Fayt's words to her, what seemed so long ago, when he had rescued her on her own attempt to free Tynave and Farleen. Then she thought of that same young man, so lost and fragile, going hungry while food lay cooling before him.

"No – he's my charge," she said finally. "There's no help for it... I can't ignore my responsibilities to him, or my people. He'll have to come with me." She allowed herself a small smile as she watched him gesture frantically to Tynave.

"I wouldn't want him to tell me again that I was neglecting my duty."

* * *

"Feel free to walk around – but stay out of trouble." 

The late afternoon sun slanted down through the windows of Paterny's more reputable inn as Fayt stood by the door, holding it open for the Commander of the Crimson Blade.

"Why does that sound familiar?" he asked her, a slight smile on his face which, after a second, the red-head returned. "Don't worry, Cliff isn't around this time."

Nel shook her head. "That man was certainly a piece of work," she said, before meeting his eyes. "But I was always more worried about _you_."

Fayt blinked at her words, a slight flush going to his cheeks. "Wha – what do you mean by that?" he stammered, cursing for the hundredth time Tynave and her over-active imagination: The brown-haired agent had been quite... illustrative when she had been explaining to Fayt exactly what she had thought he and Nel had been doing when Tynave and Farleen had arrived, and ever since, Fayt was having trouble looking Nel in the face. Not that Fayt didn't find Nel attractive – who wouldn't? It was just that... well, she was _Nel._ The Crimson Blade was _not_ the kind of woman you allowed yourself to fantasize about – unless you were a man like Cliff of course, but that was another story.

The red-head was giving him an odd look. "I mean that, for all his bluster, Cliff knows how to operate undercover. You on the other hand, tend to make a career out of sticking your nose in other people's business."

_Oh. That's what she meant._ "Hey! You were the one who asked for my help remember?"

Nel shook her head, smile still in place. "Don't be defensive – your compassion is one of your most endearing traits," her tone turned serious though before he could blush again. "But... I brought you with me because I think some time outdoors will do you good, but don't think you're fully recovered. I'd say you're at about a fifth of your normal strength so for now... just take in the air alright? Lay off the heroics, at least for today...And keep your hood up."

Fayt raised his hands in surrender. "Yes ma'am. I'll be good," he said, while pulling up the head covering of the cloak that Nel had given him to hide his identity.

"I'll hold you to that," she replied, as she began to walk away. Nel turned back once before she left the inn however. "I just have to go over some reports with my agents in the city – don't wait up if you're tired."

And then she was gone, leaving the staff of the inn bowing in her wake. Fayt had to smile – she certainly had that effect on people, bending them to her will by her sheer presence. Maybe it was because people back on Earth did a lot of their interaction through technological mediums, but for one reason or another, there weren't a lot of people back home who were like Nel. She'd even been able to keep his mind off his dreams – his nightmares – if only for a short time.

As Fayt walked the streets of Paterny however, his eyes taking in the simple, yet joy-filled ordinary acts of people engaged in the simple act of living, hi dark mood returned. He knew, in his mind, that his nightmares were just that – nightmares. After all, people had gone to sleep everyday since Luther had 'deleted' the Eternal Sphere, and he hadn't heard of any mass disappearances. There was obviously no truth to ground his fears.

However, while his mind wanted to be certain, in his heart the nightmares were building a breeding ground for fear. Logic told him to dismiss the dreams as rubbish - but every time his nightmares found a way to make him doubt. Doubt that they had won anything at all...

_Stop it, _he told himself, as he entered the central area of the town, the rotunda where the vendors hawked their wares for the eager and unwary, _look at this place! Look at everyone here... They're alive. Your dream can't erase that – its all in your head._

At the same time though, a small voice scoffed in the back of his mind. _Sure - they look alive. But then, that's only if you trust what your senses are telling you. And aren't your senses 'in your mind' as well?_

His head swirling, Fayt stopped by a stall, and gripped one of its wooden poles to steady himself. He raised his eyes, and suddenly realized he was standing just below the steps where he had first met Ameena. As if it had triggered something in his very bones, the memories came flooding back – how they had first met, rescuing her from the forest, her tragic death... She had been one of the gentlest people he'd known.

_Yes, and now she's dead,_ the voice reminded him, _where do you think she is now Fayt? Where do you go when you can't even dream?_

"Stop it," he hissed under his breath, pressing his let fist against his head, "Stop it stop it _stop it."_

"But – but I'm not doing anything mister!" A voice answered him, unexpectedly, braking him out of his trance.

Fayt raised his head to find a the manager of the stall staring a thim. She was very young – no more than ten he thought – with wide green eyes and dirty blonde hair tied in pigtails.

"Are you alright Mister?" she asked. "You look really sick..."

"Ah, erm," Fayt replied, suddenly embarrassed, "It's nothing really..."

"'Nothing never makes you act like something's the matter'," the girl said, "Least that's what my mom says. And she's always right!"

The boy had to smile at that. "I'm sure she is..."

"Mother also says that the best thing to do when you're down is do something fun... I know!" the girl said, as she leaned down and rummaged through her stall's inventory. Finally she straightened and handed Fayt a sausage on a stick. "Here! We make the best Sausa-Sticks in Paterny!," the girl proclaimed proudly. "You can have one – on the house!"

"Oh no, I can't- "

The girl scowled at him. "Mama said it isn't nice to refuse gifts."

Finally after a few more exchanges, Fayt was compelled to take the food. It was good he had to admit after his first bite. He smiled at the child. "Thanks... I needed this."

The girl beamed at him. "My name is Leetha. What's yours?" she asked, but before Fayt could come up with a suitable name, a fat man in rich clothing bumped into Leetha and sent her sprawling.

"Ow!"

"Out of my way brat!" the fat man said, as he hurried on his way, tailed by two armored bodyguards with shifty eyes – a merchant of some sort obviously, and a paranoid one at that.

"Hey you – don't just walk away!" Fayt called out. The merchant didn't even look back, but one of his guards turned to sneer at Fayt.

"Mind your own business low-life – unless you want to meet the business end of my sword!"

The Earther clenched his fists, but Nel's words came back to him. Much as he'd like to teach these arrogant scumbags a lesson, he just wasn't up to it. Cursing his nightmares, Fayt instead helped the little girl to her feet.

"Hmph... I thought so," the body guard said, before falling back into step behind the merchant.

"Are you okay?" Fayt asked Leetha, who nodded, although she was obviously holding back tears. Fayt rummaged through his pockets and scooped out a handful of gold, which he gave to the little blonde.

"For the great Sausa-Stick," h said smiling, and while she looked at her haul with wide eyes, Fayt began to make his way determinedly in the direction the fat merchant had gone. He had no plans of causing any trouble, as he'd promised Nel – but surely it wouldn't hurt just to tail them long enough to figure out who the merchant was. That way, he could tell Nel when she returned and the Crimson Blade would take care of the rest. Weakened or not, there was no way he was going to let the fat man get away with such rudeness.

So focused was Fayt on the merchant, that he didn't even notice the men falling into step behind him, nor the quiet hiss of air as they unsheathed their blades.

_

* * *

__Author's Notes:_

_Sending this out ahead of my schedule so you guys have something to read when FFNet is on down-time. Just be sure you review when you're able to This is really only the first part of the chapter I had planned out, but I decided to split it into two chapters instead, sharing the same title. Care can be shown in many different ways..._

_I hope people don't mind the slow pace of the romance portion of the fic, and the fact that there's all this politics going on – I don't tend to do 'instant love' fics, as from my experience of that emotion, it takes time to blossom – especially in the case of someone like Nel, who has been trained to control her emotions. Remember that quotation in Mulan? The 'Flower that blooms in adversity'? That's the Fayt Nel relationship I have in mind. So... expect quite a bit of adversity :P (And a lot of Tynave and Farleen mucking things up, hehe...)_

_For those interested: Yes I'm taking the Paterny merchant rebellion thing from Fayt's solo ending scene, though of course the details to come later are all my doing. _

_Anyway, on to the comments portion:_

_Obsidian Ideals: I'm glad you liked the dream scene... It was difficult to craft And I hope the little I showed of Domestic Nel didn't disappoint :)_

_As for the useage of 'said' – I think we were trained differently. My teachers always went on about how not to overuse that word, and the importance of equivalents for variety and illustrative purposes – but I guess sometimes I tend to overcompensate. :P I'll try to mitigate that though, so please bear with me – and thanks for pointing it out!_

_Sining: It's true that when we sleep our minds are still active – but for Fayt, the basis of the 'deleted' reality of the Milky Way is not mere mental activity, but conscious belief – a willing of our own existence. Our brains might be active when we sleep, but very few of us (the lucid dreamers) can exert any willpower in our dreams. This idea becomes quite focal later on... kudos for your sharpness in pointing this out _

_Red Mage Neko: Yeah – having a The Matrix like awakening is bound to be disconcerting – especially when you were never part of the 'real' world to begin with. This had an effect on Fayt, an on Nel too – although Nel's crisis will have to wait until later. There's a hint about it in this chapter though._

_To everyone else: Thank you for reading and reviewing! Feedback always inspires me :)_

_Next Chapter: Some of that 'adversity' I was talking about above... Can Nel stop a rebellion all by her lonesome? And is Fayt any use at all when he weighs less than, oh, Adrai's left bicep? Stay tuned...Next chapter is when the sparks really start to fly!_


	4. Care Part 2

**VANISHING POINT**

_A Star Ocean 3 Fanfic by Ender_

**Chapter Four: Care (Part 2 of 2)**

They filed in slowly, furtively, as if the shadows which hid them also hid other, less reasonable creatures. Most came with one or two loyal, and heavily armed, retainers – the most that could be brought while maintaining secrecy – and yet they obviously felt remarkably exposed: These were men who were used to be surrounded by veritable armies of sycophants, huddled behind walls of stone and the best runology money could buy. It did not help at all that they were engaged in something that was probably more dangerous than anything else they had ever attempted in their lives… In this, the masks each of them wore served a dual purpose: concealing both their identities, and the fear and trepidation each of them so obviously felt.

Before the week was over, Nel was going to make sure that each and every one of their fears would be realized.

It had taken quite a bit of digging to unearth even the barest details of what the merchants of Peterny were hatching, but what little she'd found had not pleased the Crimson Blade at all. Heads of consortiums which previously had little but animosity for each other were seen meeting under the cover of darkness, and suddenly building 'wine cellars' – some that tunneled more than a mile beneath the earth – were becoming all the rage. Such details, and various rumors that were circulating amongst the underworld of Peterny spoke of a city girding for war – but in a time of 'peace' between nations, that could only mean one thing, and Nel did not like it one bit.

Still, there were holes in the big picture. As far as the Crimson Blade could ascertain, there had been little to no increase of arms being manufactured in the town, or being sold on its black market. Whatever the merchants were planning, violence seemed to be a given, or at least the potential for such, it would not make sense for men who made their livelihoods from cunning and prudence would not seek to cover that possibility. Nel needed more information before she'd be able to recommend a course of action to the Queen – luckily Tynave and Farleen had done most of the leg work before they reported to her, and thus it had only taken her a few hours to find someone who knew about the secret meeting of the conspirators, and even less time for her to sneak in and find herself a suitable – if uncomfortable – vantage point near the structural supports of the warehouses' leaky roof. From there she had a clear view of the large, circular table placed in the center of the floor, around which the masked men had taken their seats, their attendants standing stoically behind them.

While numbering only a handful at first, as the night slowly gave way to early morning, more and more of the conspirators began to trickle in, and their number was beginning to alarm Nel. While certainly not yet constituting a majority of Peterny's merchants, there was still a sizeable number of them present, and if the redhead guessed correctly as to the identities of a few – those who had distinctive builds or aides – then the traitors numbered amongst them some of the more influential traders of the city were indeed a part of this plot.

But the worst was yet to come.

Finally, after more than five hours of watching the nervous merchants practically drill holes in the oaken table with the constant drumming of their fingers, a subtly concealed trapdoor opened, around two meters from the head of the table, and a well-dressed man stepped into the dim light. His clothing was flamboyant, and his head was bare of mask or hair as he smiled a greeting at the assembled, his evident good cheer contrasting sharply with Nel's sudden rush of cold fury.

Foreigh Lamarasad.

She'd recognize that scoundrel anywhere. He had been one of the high-rolling leaders of a smuggling syndicate that had plagued Aquaria in the not-too-distant past. In fact, it was Nel who had been assigned the task of capturing him – and she would have to, if she had not been diverted to the more pressing issue of Airglyph's aggressive troop movements along the border. When war finally broke out, Foreigh took advantage of the situation to win himself a royal pardon in exchange for generous monetary contributions "to the cause of freedom". Still, his presence that evening wasn't all bad… Nel felt her anger fading slowly as she realized that, in a sense, this was a blessing in disguise. The criminal had been pardoned for his past offenses - but if he was as deeply mired in this conspiracy as he appeared to be… a small smile appeared on the red-head's face.

The other would-be traitors did not seem to share Nel's amusement however. "It's about time you got here!" one of them shouted.

"We've been waiting here for hours!"

"Patience is a virtue we'd all do well to learn my lords," Foreigh replied, in his smarmiest voice. "It is perhaps the only virtue your esteemed excellencies are lacking in."

"We didn't come here for your flattery smuggler," a tall man snapped, "You've been leading us on with snippets of your grand plan, and bits of your strategy, since day one –you promised us some answers tonight."

"And for your sake, you'd better have them," a fat merchant added, "Or else…"

"Threats milords?" Foreigh protested mildly, "That's hardly the proper way for future leaders of the great City-State of Peterny to behave now is it?"

_City-State? So that's their game…_the red-head thought to herself. It _was_ a secession, as she had feared. Part of her wished that she had brought out the Blades in full-force, so that they could end this little rebellion right now, before it even got off the ground… but the rational part of her knew that it would have been impossible to mobilize so large a number of agents without alarming the merchants. The conspirators without a doubt had information networks of their own, and if Nel had simply marched into the city with an army, they would have merely lain low, and she would have lost her best, perhaps only, chance to discover the true depth of their plotting. It wasn't enough that the secession was prevented – she meant to make certain that each and every one of those involved was exposed, and subjected to the full fury of justice. If that meant that she had to be a little more patient, then so be it.

Apparently however, Foreigh was right in saying that patience was a trait his 'partners' lacked.

"Is this all we came here for?" one of the merchants shouted, banging his fist on the table before standing up. "All you do is talk Foreigh! Talk, and promise, while the Queen is closing in on us! Where is the army you promised us? Do you know who showed up in town today? Nel Zeplher!"

There was a muttering amongst many of the merchants, although a few merely nodded their heads knowingly. Nel cursed silently – sometimes she forgot that Fayt wasn't the only celebrity… She had gotten to used to life as a shadow agent that she could never quite factor in her own increasing fame across most of Aquaria. She should have been more careful.

Foreigh however, seemed unimpressed. "Ah yes, of course, the beautiful Miss Zelpher. I was well aware of presence in the city – worry not, everything is going according to plan."

"You knew?" the angry merchant was almost sputtering with rage. "You knew she was here and you still allowed the meeting to proceed? Without informing us? That is the final straw!" Turning on his heel, the merchant began to walk towards the doorway, flanked by his two bodyguards. "I've had enough of this farce! You've shown us little of your plans, none of your soldiers, and all of your arrogance… Count me out of this nonsense!"

"So…" the smuggler asked, with an easy smile, "Are you planning on leaving us then?"

"You heard me Foreigh! And if the rest of them have any intelligence, they'll leave with me, before we're faced with the hangman's noose!"

"Ah well," Foreigh said, "It's always a shame to have a dissatisfied customer. But in this special case – we can't afford that, now can we… partner?"

Had Nel been anyone else she might have missed it. Almost before Foreigh had even finished his sentence, the trapdoor through which Foreigh had made his entrance swung outwards, and a blur of motion flew towards the merchant who was leaving the warehouse. The merchant's guards were well trained, and moved to shield their employer with their bodies – but they were slow. Much too slow. Both were slumping to the ground, daggers thrust deep into their necks, before the merchant even had time to cry out – and by then, he himself had a blade at his throat.

"No... I'm afraid that we have a strict no refund policy Foreigh," said a soft, female voice as Foreigh's 'partner' finally ceased her lightning-fast movement long enough to come into view. It was a woman, green hair pulled back in a severe looking hairstyle that seemed to match the woman's harsh features. A pair of vivid scars ran from just beneath the warrior's left ear to the tip of her jaw, and they seemed to come to horrid life as she smiled, squirming their way across her cheeks. The woman herself was slight of build, her physique almost dwarfed by the fat merchant she held helpless in her arms – but Nel knew that even if the merchant struggled, there was no way he would be bale to escape her grasp.

Nel should know – she had _taught_ the woman that hold.

"Oh Salene…" Nel breathed in despair, her heart heavy in her chest. "What have you done…"

As the entire gathering stood transfixed by the spectacle, more soldiers began to pour out of the trapdoor – many of them seemed to have been infantry troops from Aquaria's garrison in Arias, but there were not a few members of the Crimson Blade themselves amongst their number, obviously in positions of high command, along with some who were wearing the garb of Runologists. The newcomers quietly and efficiently took positions around the room, placing themselves in such a way that they would be ready and able to intercept any moves from the other merchant guards. Foreigh merely stood with his hands clasped behind his back, a smirk on his face.

"Having second thoughts I presume, friend Alistair?" the smuggler said, naming the fat merchant who had mere seconds ago seemed so defiant, as Salene pushed the now-blubbering conspirator onto the floor. Foreigh gestured expansively at the green-haired woman. "Your excellencies… I believe you wished to see our army? May I have the unparalleled honor of presenting to you Miss Salene Tranashi, of the renowned Crimson Blade?"

Salene scowled at him. "Formerly, of the Crimson Blade." She said sharply, and the contempt in her voice caused Nel to grind her teeth. The woman kicked the merchant once for good measure, then, convinced he was cowed, stepped forward and addressed the remaining assembled.

"Before we go any further, let me disabuse you of any illusions you may yet have about our little uprising: if you thought that this was something safe, if you thought you would only risk your property and not your lives – then you are fools." Her hawk-like gaze swept the conspirators, causing more than a few of them to back away. "We are about to start a _war_, and I don't think it's been too long for you to remember what _that_ is like." She paused then, before continuing, contempt dripping from her every word. "Or maybe not. Maybe you were so secure here, in your safe little city, so far from the frontlines – from where we were being killed, maimed and murdered in order to safeguard your worthless hides – that you have no idea what war is like."

The former Blade strode to one of the murdered guards and pulled his corpse up by the hair. With a swift motion, she sliced through his neck with her sword, and tossed the severed head into the lap of a nearby merchant, who screamed and scuttled away.

"Just for your information – _that_ is the face of warfare."

"So you see my friends," Foreigh interjected smoothly, as he came forward to stand side by side with Salene, "I think that you will find that we are well prepared for any attempt at violence… well prepared indeed.

"Still," the smuggler continued, as he began to pace slowly about the room, "As I have said, I have the highest confidence that we will be safe from any martial retaliation. As I have repeatedly told you gentlemen and ladies – the forces of both Aquaria and Airyglyph have been decimated by the recent altercations, both their senseless war and the arrival of the Celestial Ships and the 'Time of Fallen Angels' as scholars are now referring to our recent difficulties with those unearthly monstrosities. The armies of Aquaria are at the lowest ebb they have been in years, and we believe that we've been able to gather enough of those, shall we say, discontented with the ways of the Queen that even allied with Airyglyph, Aquaria will realize that it simply cannot afford the war that she would need to wage in order to bring us back into her suffocating embrace."

He shook his head. "No – they will swallow their pride, chain their anger and grant us the independence we so desire… and in so doing they will allow us to transform Peterny into the jewel of civilization, an indispensable crossroads for trade between Samnite, Aquaria and Airyglyph, answerable to none while taxing all to our hearts content. Despite what my dangerous companion says, there is not as much risk as you may believe – and the rewards, my friends, will be astronomical."

The merchants began to mutter energetically amongst themselves, and Nel could see that their earlier fear was already being swept away by their insatiable lust for money. It was clear to her now why they had agreed to such an audacious move – Peterny was indeed strategically placed between the three major nations, and while this already made the town rich, the Queen kept a tight reign on the taxes imposed in the city, ensuring that most of the sizeable proceeds went to the coffers in the capital city. If Peterny were independent, they would be able to raise taxes as high as they pleased – and would be able to tax Aquaria in addition to Airyglyph and the Republic – and all the revenue would go into their pockets. For men of such greed, such temptation would be near impossible to resist – even if it risked the lives of innocents.

Suddenly a voice could be heard over and above the din of voices. "That's all well and good," a tall, bony woman said, "But what if Aquaria _does_ decide to invade?" The masked woman turned towards Salene. "I had thought that Foreigh's 'army' would consist of foreign mercenaries – what guarantee do we have that you and yours will be willing to fight and kill people who used to be your comrades?"

The warehouse fell silent a Salene sauntered over to the female merchant, the former Blade idly twirling a dagger in her hand. "You've got guts, I'll give you that, questioning my abilities after seeing what I could do…"

The masked woman stood her ground however. "Save your bravado. Not all of us who make our living with books and ledgers are cowards. I've seen men cut into pieces with those weapons of yours – I have no wish to suffer the same fate."

Salene stared at the woman for a long moment, then cut loose with a deep throated laugh. "You've got more balls than most of the men in this room milady, and that is the truth."

"Spare me the compliments," the merchant woman said, "You haven't answered my question. I'm a businesswoman – I live in a world where _no one_ does anything for free. It's crystal clear why most of us merchants are here… But what do _you_ people get out of this? Nel Zelpher may not be the most likeable of women, but she does have a talent for inspiring inspiration in her-"

The solid sound of a knife embedding itself in the table cut off the merchant woman abruptly. "Nel Zelpher is it?" Salene said, in a low, dangerous whisper, "Let me tell you a little something about _Nel Zelpher…_ that paragon of virtue, that ideal to which every agent of Aquaria is measured…"

The former Blade removed her knife from the table. "The moment you join the Blades, you know that no matter your accomplishments, your grades, your achievements, the only standard that will ever matter is how well you compare to the Zelphers. And you know what? Even while we were training with her, we never held that against her. Because you know what lady? You're right… there was always something about Nel. Something special. We would have died for her you know… And bloodying our swords against those Airyglyph bastards – many of us _did_.

"And then… You know how she repays us? How she _avenges us?_" Salene screamed as she rammed her dagger back into its sheath. "She helps broker a truce with Airyglyph! She rides their blasted air dragons! She consorts with Albel Nox – _Albel the Wicked_! Did she care about how many of us fell to his blade? Did she care about how many of us lived but for the chance to even the score?" The green haired woman took a deep breath, but it did little to calm her.

"Peace she tells us… It is our job to safeguard the 'peace'," the former Blade spat contemptuously, "What peace can be made with those who murdered our brothers, our fathers, our… our lovers? What peace? The peace of the grave is all I offer them!"

Salene's eyes narrowed as she whirled around and faced the tall masked woman once more. "You ask me what we will get out of this… I tell you that sooner or later there _will_ be a war. And when that happens, I will gladly take the opportunity to take my vengeance on those who defiled us in war… And those, like Zelpher, who betrayed us with peace."

Nel reeled. She was very much afraid that she was about to topple over, so hard had Salene's words pierced her heart. Her hand clutched at the wooden supports beneath her in a death grip, so hard that splinters bit through the fabric of her glove, but such pain was trivial to that which assailed her from within. She wanted nothing more than to leap down and pound some sense into Salene, to shout, to scream at her that she was wrong, that Nel _did_ understand, that Nel…

With a Herculean effort the Crimson Blade pushed herself further back into the darkness, her curdling emotions bound in iron chains of duty. She had a mission to accomplish, and she was not going to abandon it for the sake of defending herself.

Imagine her surprise when someone decided to do it for her.

"If you believe that" a voice called out suddenly from below, "Then you're even more blind than the rest of these poor fools you've been leading on."

Nel's eyes widened. She knew that voice. But he couldn't possibly…

_No… By Apris, no…_

* * *

Fayt had not known what he had been getting into when he had decided to follow the offensive little merchant, a scant few hours ago. He had only intended to discover the identity of the merchant in order to report the man's inexcusable behavior to Nel upon her return, but he had been ambushed almost as soon after he began tailing the man, by armed men who apparently had not appreciated the fact that Fayt seemed to be stalking their 'prey'. Weak as he was, Fayt had still been able to dispose of the would-be-brigands – though not without a struggle. When he had recovered, the boy was dismayed to discover that the merchant was nowhere to be seen, and Fayt had almost been ready to return to the inn when he spotted his quarry ducking into a nearby alleyway. Apparently the merchant was a paranoid sort, and had been zigzagging across the city by doubling back along already covered territory in order to lose imagined (or in this case, not so imagined) pursuit. Deciding that his injuries would sting less if they were received in the process of successfully completing his task, Fayt decided to follow the merchant as the latter ducked into what had initially appeared to be an old abandoned warehouse. It was there, hidden behind discarded bales of trade goods, that Fayt became privy to the meeting between the masked merchants and their mysterious ring leader. Knowing instantly that his life was forfeit if he was discovered, and suspecting he had inadvertently discovered the very plot that Nel had come to the city seeking, the Earthling had remained silent… That was, until the former Crimson Blade known as Salene had began ranting about her 'betrayal' at Nel's hands.

Before he knew it Fayt was on his feet, his body trembling with rage, his eyes blazing with fury. It was a foolhardy action, and Fayt knew it – but quite frankly at that point, he didn't care. Even when the warehouse echoed with the sounds of over three dozen blades being unsheathed.

"And who the hell are you?" Salene hissed, twin daggers in her hands.

Fayt didn't bother answering, even though he knew the hood of his cloak obscured his featured. "Someone who obviously knows Nel better than you do."

The green haired woman's eyes narrowed. "You're no Crimson Blade."

"Neither are you," Fayt replied. "Quite the opposite in fact."

Salene's eyes flickered with irritation, but she soon seemed to recover her composure as she became aware of her surroundings. "Keep your identity then, Friend-of-Zelpher – I hardly need to make the acquaintance of a dead man. You do realize of course, that you _will _be a corpse before the dawn breaks?"

"Not before I'm able to speak the truth Salene, and show you just how wrong you are."

"Arrogant pup," the woman hissed, "You think I'll let you live long enough to spread your lies? I can cut you down where you stand!"

Unheeding of her threat, Fayt took a step forward. "Why? If you're right, I'm dead anyway aren't I? What are you afraid of? That I'll strip away your justification for your crimes? That I'll make you understand Nel?"

"There is nothing to _understand!"_ Salene shouted, "She betrayed us, and all that we stood for!"

"And what exactly was it you thought you stood for?" Fayt shouted back. "Revenge? Murder? Treason?" He shook his head slightly, his eyes not leaving Salene's. They were wild now, with rage, and perhaps, a bit of confusion. It was obvious the woman was not used to being challenged. "You were meant to protect, not destroy."

"Just kill him already Salene," Foreigh snapped, but the woman wasn't listening. It seemed Fayt had hit a nerve.

"How dare you… How _dare_ you!" Salene screamed at Fayt, jabbing a finger in his direction. "Protect? Who do you think you are? Who was protecting my husband when he fell beneath Albel's blade? Where was your precious Nel then? Licking the boots of the Airyglyph King in the name of her damned peace!"

Fayt could hardly believe his ears. Was this… was this the existence they had risked so much to save? Fayt had been with Nel when she had first come into the presence of Airyglyph's King, he had seen her reaction when it had been decided that Albel was to join them… He had been at her side every time she had been faced with a choice between her own pain, her own desires, and the good of her country, and he had watched her choose her country's welfare, each and every time. And this was her reward?

Fayt spoke more softly now, almost to himself. "When Nel first spoke to the King, her right hand was splinted and bandaged. Do you know why? She spent the entire evening before they arrived at Airyglyph beating her bare fist against a boulder, and she didn't stop until both the rock and hand were broken," he said, relating the story that Cliff had told him. His voice rose then, in volume and intensity. "Why do you think she won that 'damned peace' for you poor fool? _So that none of you would have to go through the pain of losing a loved one to war, ever again_." He took a deep breath. "But in the end, I guess it _is _impossible for you to understand what Nel had gone through – people like you always need to have someone else to blame. Nel on the other hand, never blames anyone but herself… but in the end, it's she who does what has to be done."

With an inarticulate roar of fury, Salene threw her paired daggers towards Fayt, their razor sharp edges whistling in the air as they sped towards the boy's jugular. For an instant, Fayt froze, so caught up had he been in their exchange of words that he had forgotten his own peril, but an instant later he was sent crashing to the floor, the deadly missiles flying harmlessly above his head, as someone smashed into him from above.

"Stay behind me," Nel said curtly, as she helped him to his feet, a dagger held before her as she used her free hand to help him up.

"Nel…?" he said, in surprise, but she cut him off.

"Pull yourself together," she said, as her gaze swept the astonished conspirators, "We're not out of this yet."

The arrival of the Crimson Blade snapped those assembled form the stupor that seemed to have set in from the moment Fayt had made his appearance, and the merchants were in a panic, some ordering their men to attack Nel, others ordering them to attack Salene's troops, still others running for the doorway for all they were worth. The redhead effortlessly dodged several hastily fired crossbow bolts, and with a gesture and a surge of Runological power, sent a dagger of ice that froze solid the two egress points of the warehouse, leaving Fayt and herself trapped with almost forty armed men.

Or, rather, leaving those forty men trapped with _her._

"You are surrounded," Nel said, in a voice that brooked no argument, "Lay down your weapons and we will be lenient. Resist, and you don't leave this place alive."

While some, even those who had been of the Crimson Blade, heeded her command, cowed by Nel's very presence, Salene merely drew another pair of daggers.

"You dare show yourself here Zelpher?"

From where Fayt was standing, the look that the redhead sent towards the former Blade was one of both anger and pity, but her tone was neutral. "Stand down Salene. I will deal with you later."

"No!" The green-haired woman screamed, "You have denied me of my vengeance for the last time! I will have your head!"

Nel didn't bother answering, but her blade met Salene's with a ear-shattering clang, once, twice, then three times as the green-haired woman struck with blows that only Nel herself could see.

"You'll need to try something a bit more fancy than a Vanquish Slice if you want me dead Salene," the redhead said, in a calm voice.

Salene growled, did a backflip, then pushed off from the floor in a spinning move that sent her spiraling forward, blades twisting like a drill. The Crimson Blade however, merely ducked under the flashing steel, planted a hand on the floor, then kicked upwards and diagonally, catching Salene just as her midsection passed above the red-head.

"Black Twister, ground launch," Nel said clinically, once again naming the move her opponent had used. "You pushed off a bit late, and your speed was about half that of the optimum."

"Curse you Zelpher," Salene spat, "You aren't my teacher anymore!"

"As long as you have something left to learn, I will _always_ be your teacher Salene," Nel answered her, before curling her fingers towards herself. "And you've got a _lot_ left to learn. Now… Why don't you try again?"

The former Blade screamed invectives at Nel, then redoubled her efforts, her arms and legs a blur of deadly motion. But no matter how fast Salene moved, Nel was always two steps ahead, naming every one of the green-haired woman's moves, Nel's daggers moving in quick, efficient sweeps that treated every attack as merely another step in a choreographed, if deadly, dance. And the Crimson Blade was not merely defending – she was attacking, exploiting every weakness, every defect in her opponent's form with rapid-fire attacks that did little damage but were very effective in demonstrating just how different the skill level of the combatants was. Infuriated and increasingly frustrated Salene's attacks grew more and more reckless, more and more desperate, until finally, Nel blocked a clumsy overhand strike with her right hand, paralyzed a nerve cluster with a quick chop of her left, then floored the former Blade with a vicious roundhouse kick. Before Salene could even spit out her broken teeth, Nel's foot was planted firmly at the base of her skull, pressing the green-haired woman's face to the floor.

"It's over," Nel said simply, as Fayt walked forward to stand by her side.

"I beg to differ," Foreigh sneered, and at the snap of his fingers, a dozen crossbows were leveled at the two friends. "This discovery was inopportune, to say the least, but all it means is that our timetable will be moved up a bit. Your disposal of Salene, while impressive, is hardly more than a minor inconvenience."

Nel seemed unperturbed. "When I say it's over Foreigh, I mean it's _over."_

"Surely you don't believe even you could triumph over these odds," Foreigh scoffed.

"I wasn't talking about myself," the woman answered, before pulling down the hood of Fayt's cloak. Even with a face drawn with fatigue and under-nutrition, the azure eyes and hair of the "Savior of Aquaria" had been immortalized in enough songs that he was almost instantly recognizable. But just in case there was any doubt…

"Your excellencies, may I present Sir Fayt Leingod?"

The sound of weapons hitting the ground was deafening.

* * *

A scant half an hour later, the conspirators were being herded into prison wagons, manned by detachments of the local garrison which Nel's agents had ascertained to be loyal to the cause. A crack battalion of troops was on its way from the capital, readied by Tynave and Farleen and dispatched upon smoke signals from Peterny. The would-be coup instigators had been cowed sufficiently by Fayt's presence that Nel had been able to leave them entirely in his care as she made arrangements for their incarceration. When she had returned, Nel remained stoic throughout the entire process, neither seeking out nor avoiding the gazes of those who had served under her wing. The only disturbance had occurred when Salene was being hauled away.

"Why?" the green-haired woman had asked, in a broken voice. "Why Nel? You told us… told us to die before we surrendered our honor…"

"Yes," Nel had replied, "But I also told you that it was better to surrender than to endanger an innocent life. How many do you think would have died for your vengeance Salene? If not now, then a year, ten years from now?"

The former Blade had not answered at first, merely turning away from Nel. "They killed Blaine… What else mattered?" The hard eyed woman choked back a sob. "Oh Baine…"

Fayt clasped a hand to Nel's shoulder in sympathy, and was surprised when the red-head shrugged it off. What was even more surprising however, was the fact that underneath his hand, Nel had been… trembling. Violently.

"Nel? Are you alright?"

The Crimson Blade took a deep breath. "Come with me," she instructed him, not answering his question. Without checking to see if he indeed had followed, she led the way to a secluded portion of the warehouse.

"Are you injured in any significant way? A broken bone? Concussion?" she asked him curtly.

"No… I did get into a bit of a brawl before ducking in here, but nothing more than a few bruises I think…"

Nel was silent a moment. "I see. That's good."

Then she punched him.

It was a solid blow, and crashed hard into Fayt's solar plexus. The boy's knees buckled and he fell to the ground, gasping for air as Nel – _Nel _– began screaming at him in a voice filled with anger.

"You _imbecile!_ What in the name of Apris were you thinking?" Nel ranted, "No – wait. You _couldn't_ have been thinking – not and pull that stunt. Do you realize how close you came to dying back there? What if they'd decided to shoot you first, before they tried to justify their actions?"

Fayt lay on the floor, still gasping for breath. "Couldn't… Couldn't help myself," he managed to say. "She… Salene… she… didn't understand…"

"Whether she understood or not was irrelevant!" Nel interrupted him, "Have you been listening to what I am saying? You almost got yourself killed – and for what? My _honor_?"

Fayt's eyes narrowed, and he could feel his own ire rising. "I did what I felt I had to do – just like I always have. Just like _you_ always have… You're in no position to tell me that I'm pushing myself to hard Nel Zelpher."

The red-head brushed his arguments away with an angry wave of her hand. "That's another matter entirely, and you know it. By Apris Fayt… You're too important to risk!"

"And _you're_ important to _me!_" Fayt shouted, his voice thundering across the warehouse like a sonic boom. Soldiers and prisoners alike who had been trying to ignore the increasingly clamorous exchange halted in their tracks to gaze openly at the two friends.

Nel blinked at Fayt's words, seemingly taken aback. Her mouth opened, then closed a few times, but no sound emerged aside from a strangled noise of utter and complete frustration. With great effort, the Crimson Blade took a deep breath, fists clenched at her side, then slowly exhaled, her face slightly flushed.

"This isn't working…" she said, in a low, subdued voice, all traces of anger gone, and replaced by… something else.

Fayt sighed. "I agree… Look Nel, I'm sorry. Let's just head back home and…"

But again Nel cut him off. "No I meant this… arrangement, isn't working," she repeated. "I – I will arrange for you to stay at the Palace Guest Room after we leave Peterny. Don't bother returning to the estate – I'll send you anything you may have left behind."

This time, it was the boy's turn to be taken aback. "What… what are you talking about Nel?"

The red-head shook her head. "I just… I can't work with you Fayt alright? I just can't." With that, the Crimson Blade turned on her heel and stalked away, leaving behind a tired, bruised, and very confused Fayt Leingod in her wake._

* * *

_

_Author's Notes:_

_Sorry this update took so long – school has been very difficult for the past month. Luckily its Christmas break now – hooray! – so I can get some writing done._

_As usual, some comments on comments:_

Jonathan Priest: Well… I'll be damned. If it isn't Oggy You'll remember me as Pao from the Endless World. Drop me a line man! It's great to see you're still writing – and that you still like my stuff :P

Polyx Terijima: Thanks for the offer! Feel free to give me any tips you find my writing may warrant.

Sining: Yes the Power of Destruction will have some role to play… I'm not saying if it will actually be used, but it will indeed play a role.

Squally: Thanks for pointing out the mis-spelling. Changed it for this chapter

Z.A.G: Yeah that ending was an inspiration for me :P Expect a lot of similar moments, like the one I placed in Chapter 3, involving the dynamic duo of looove :P

Pipp: As far as I can tell, the story will stay PG. I may change my mind later on though…

Obsidian Ideals: And of course, to my most helpful and in-depth reviewer: My answers to your concerns

Minor Mistakes: I try But I tend to upload stories as soon as Im done :( If I catch too many typos upon reread though I replace the chapter text. I know I'm sacrificing a little polish for a little speed here – just tell me if you guys prefer it the other way around.

Ellipses: Ah, this is a familiar critique. Again, I tend to write the way I speak or hear words spoken, and trailing off is something most of the people I know do a lot in their conversations, so I tend to incorporate it a lot into my writing.

Parenthesis: I know it was odd, but it seemd to fit for some reason, and I decided to try it out. Sort of like a thought from Nel's POV expressed in third person to fit the rest of the prose. Might avoid this in the future.

As to Sparks flying… Well I think you have the answer now don't you? Sparks flew on several levels.

_And there you go! Expect the next chapter to deal with the fallout from this one, as both Nel and Fayt gain some unasked for help in dealing with their problems - with varying degrees of success. I'll try to get anothe chapter out before year end, but in the meantime: Merry Christmas! _


	5. Offense

**VANISHING POINT**

_A Star Ocean 3 Fanfic by Ender_

**Chapter Five: Offense**

The tea cooled, untouched on the table.

Fayt watched dispassionately as the steam rose lazily into the air, wind and temperature buffeting the tell-tale mist here and there as they ascended into the heavens. The blue-haired young man wondered idly if the steam had a place to go, and had a brief, irrational flash of jealousy.

"Fayt?"

The young man sighed heavilly. This is what he had been reduced to - jealousy of hot air. What had he thought he would find on Elicoor anyway? He had initially crossed paths with the planet literally by accident, and had dragged unknown numbers of its inhabitants into a war they would never fully understand.

"Fayt?"

Maybe it was time for him to leave... Perhaps as soon as his ships' self-repair functions had rendered it space-worthy, he should take his leave of the planet for good, before he brought more misfortune to the poor plane-

"HEY! MY DAUGHTER IS TALKING TO YOU!"

The booming shout and the slam of a meaty fist against wood jolted the boy back into reality. Adray scowled across the table at Fayt, his scraggily bearded chin thrust forward like the prow of a battleship. From her position beside Fayt, Claire glared at her father.

"Will you please behave yourself? Fayt has a lot of things on his mind - a phenomenon you're probably entirely unfamiliar with!"

The elder Lasbard was unfazed. "That's the boy's problem - he thinks too much! A demon on the battlefield, but take him off it and he gets all mopey."

Claire shook her head in exasperation as she cleaned up some of the tea that had been spilled in Adray's display of fatherly protectiveness. "See what you did..." she muttered to herself, before getting to her feet and raising her voice. "Not all of life is a battlefield Father - at least not to _normal_ people.," with a swish of cloth the silver haired woman walked towards the doorway. "I'll get you some more tea, Fayt," she said, throwing a reproaching look towards her father as she left the room.

Fayt sighed, and setled further back into his seat, but Adray's question kept him from resuming his reverie.

"So... accustomed to living here yet?"

"Ah... yeah... more or less," Fayt vacillated. Claire and her father had been more than willing to put up Fayt at their estate after Nel had practically kicked him out – actually, they had insisted, once they found out he was sleeping at the Palace guest room. Still, he felt awkward about imposing on them... and by the fact he'd become an unwilling captive audience to their numerous father-daughter arguments. Fayt was still halfway convinced that it was genetically impossible for someone as graceful and elegant as Claire could come from someone... well, someone as Adray as Adray.

"Great. Glad to hear it." The elder Lasbard was studying Fayt intently over the rim of his cup. The blue haired boy shifted uncomfortably and tried to mask if by taking a sip from his depleted tea, afraid that the big man was still offended by Fayt's apparent snubbing of his daughter, but the old man's next question took him completely by surprise:

"By the way… Are you seeing that girl, Nevelle's daughter…Nel?"

The tea re-emerged from Fayt's mouth in a spray of brown liquid. "Wha -what...?" Fayt sputtered, between coughs. "Why do you ask that?"

The other man shrugged. "Well, I was wondering why you came back here. I thought that was reason… Was I right?"

Fayt opened his mouth, then closed it again. Adray had the wrong idea... didn't he? Nel... Fayt closed his eyes and shook his head. Just the thought of the redhead confused him. Why had she been so angry? And why did it bother him so much anyway? Well... it was useless to worry about it now. Nel had made it clear that she had no interest in talking to him.

"No... no, it's nothing like that," Fayt said, waving his hands empathically, "We've been through a lot together and well... we're more like companions than anything else."

_Or, at least we were,_ Fayt thought ruefully to himself, _Now I'm not sure what we are..._ That thought brought about a fresh wave of sadness, and Fayt tried to drown the turmoil out with another sip of tea.

Adray however began to sound positively jolly. " Well then, Master Fayt. Does this mean that you are currently… single?"

"Well... yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Ah," Adray said, in an immensely satisfied voice. "Perfect." The elder Lasbard then leaned forward inently, with a gleam in his eye. "Wanna marry my daughter?"

Once more a fountain of tea erupted unwillingly from the young man's mouth. "What! Claire?"

Adray's expression clouded over. "What's the matter? You saying something's wrong with my daughter?"

"N-no," Fayt spluttered quickly, "It's just that, well... isn't that the sort of thing that people usually decide for themselves? Even if I said sure, what would Clair say?" he ended, trying to find some polite way out of this mess.

Adray however rolled over his objections like a tatooed bulldozer. "What are you talking about? I know my daughter well... Trust me - she would not say no." Before Fayt could think up another objection, the older man clapped his hands together. " So it's settled, then! And the Lasbard family line is assured!"

As Fayt's life began to flash before his eyes, a crashing noise from behind the closed door drew the attention of both men. The door opened a crack, and Claire poked her head through the door.

"Uhm... excuse me... Father?" the woman asked in a sweet voice. "Could I have a word with you in private?"

"Ah Claire," Adray said expansively as he stood up. "Perfect timing. I had something to talk to you about as well..."

Fayt sighed with relief, though he did spare a moment of pity as Adray cheerfully followed his daughter out of the room. It was obvious the old man hadn't gotten a good look at Claire's eyes...

Soon enough, the sound of various objects breaking and the startled shouts of Adray affirmed Fayt's suspicions. It looked like the silver-haired woman would take care of the situation more than adequately.

_It's not like I've got anything against Claire,_ Fayt thought to himself, _But who in his right mind would want to have Adray as a Father-in-Law?_

A few minutes (and a hundred screams) later, Claire walked calmly back into the room, her composed appearance at odds with the violence which had just taken place.

"I really do apologize for my Father," Claire said as she sat across from Fayt. "I'd like to say that he isn't usually like that but..." she shrugged helplessly.

Fayt waved away her concerns. "Oh don't worry - I got used to him while we were travelling together," he smiled, "His... enthusiasm, can be infectious."

Claire smiled. "It's good of you to say so," she said. "But in this case, he's really doing it because he's worried about you, in his own way... and so am I."

The boy smiled wanly. "I'll be fine. As soon as my ship is fixed I'll be off."

The young woman shook her head, and gave him a stern look. "That's not what I'm worried about, and you know it."

Fayt sighed, and looked away. "There's nothing much more to say. I don't even know what I did wrong," he said, some of his resentment seeping in.

"Maybe it isn't a matter of right or wrong," Claire said gently.

The earthboy ran his finger through his hair. If he hadn't done anything wrong, then why was she so angry? Sure he'd gotten himself into trouble - but it wasn't as if he had been out _looking_ for it. "Maybe it would have been better if I hadn't come here..."

The warm touch of Claire's hand on his own startled him, and he found himself looking deep into her eyes. "No... I think you came here for a reason, the first time Fayt... and I think there's a reason you've returned, even now when the whole universe is open to you. I think there's something here that, deep down, you think you need. You just need to discover what that is. Why, of all the places you could have gone to, did you come here?"

A rap on the door interrupted them before Fayt could focus on Claire's question. A young Aquarian soldier stepped into the room and bowed to Fayt aand Claire, proffering a rolled up scroll in his hands.

"Ah, finally," Claire said and rose gracefully to her feet. She took the missive from the messenger and scanned through it quickly, then turned to Fayt with an apologetic expression. "I fear I have to attend to a... disciplinary matter with one of my subordinates," she said, shaking her head silently, "Sometimes, our duties place more burdens on us than we'd care to admit. But, if you're willing, I'd be more than happy to continue this on another day..."

"Uh... sure," Fayt said, taking in a deep breath as Claire left the room. All the same he thought he might be happy if 'another day' never came. It wasn't that he was not touched by the Lasbard's concern... quite the contrary. It was just that Nel... confused him, and the boy was more accustomed to dealing with such confusion alone. But Claire had given him some food for thought - perhaps now he would have some time to himself to reflect.

"Is she gone?"

Or, maybe not.

"Erm, coast is clear," Fayt said, as a bedraggled Adray snuck back into the room.

"Heh... guess I got scolded a bit," the old man said, with several bruises, scratches and a black eye silent testament to the vigor of Claire's 'scolding'. "I swear that child has a violent streak in her... Strange really, seeing how her mother was such a gentle soul..."

Gee, I wonder where she could have gotten it then, Fayt thought silently to himself, hoping that Adray would go away.

It appeared however, that the elder Lasbard would not oblige him. "Well then Master Fayt," Adray said, placing a beefy arm around the boy, and leading him unwillingly towards the door, "Now that it's just us men, I'll show you a little trick that's been passed down our family through generations."

"Uhm, I really don't- " Fayt protested, but before he knew it he was already being hauled out of the house.

"We'll fix you up right well, don't you worry," Adray said, laughing ominously, "All it'll take is one strong dose of the Lasbard Family Remedy! Hahahahaha!"

Nel Zelpher was faced with something of a dilemma:

If she didn't get to punch someone in the face soon, she was going to explode.

The Crimson Blade was in a bad mood. In fact, as far as her infamous bad moods went, this was probably the worst in recent memory. Soon after she had returned from the Paterny mission, Tynave and Farleen had been quick to spread the word - for the foreseable future, Nel Zelpher was _not _to be approached. Not that most needed the warning - since her return the red-head had been giving off an aura of fury that all but the undead would have found impossible to ignore.

Granted, Nel did try to keep her feelings to herself. She made sure that every word that escaped her lips was carefully chosen so as not to give undue offense, so as to show no indication of her emotions. True, that may have resulted in her sounding cold and abrupt - well, that was preferable to the alternative. The only thing worse than getting so... irrational, was being obivious about it. Still, try as she might, enough slipped through that even the bravest of Aquarians gave their erstwhile heroine a wide berth.

The ironic thing was, that Nel was more angry at herself than she was at any of them.

Not that her reputation didn't have its benefits: Nel doubted she would have gotten this assignment otherwise. Under normal circumstances, a band of a dozen or so brigands. was _not_ a task left to one person, no matter how capable - but when Nel had asked to do it alone, no one even batted an eyelash.

Good thing too, since in her opinion, this was just what she needed. She needed to get all these... unneccessary thoughts out of her system. It had already been a week! She was a soldier, a commander... she needed her focus back.

_Even iif that means shutting him out?_

The Crimson Blade suppressed the thought violently, plunging through the thick forest undergrowth with hands clenched tightly around her weapons.

_Damnit. Where's a bandit when you need one..._

A rustling sound from the bushes to her right raised hopes that her prayers might just have been answered. Dropping to one knee, Nel a knife was drawn and thrown inone smooth motion, sending the weapon hilt-first towards the suspicious foliage. The moment it entered the brush however, there was a brilliant flash of light, and Nel's knife clattered backwards harmlessly.

The young woman's eyes grew wide. _Runology?_ she thought tho herself, going for her blades as she prepared for a real fight - before her target stepped into sight.

"You're getting rusty Nel," Claire said, as she dropped her runological shield. "I hadn't truly expected to get this close before you spotted me."

The redhead took a deep breath and stood up. "What are you doing here Claire?"

The other woman raised a slim eyebrow gracefully. Claire was, in many ways, the perfect woman. It was a statement that carried no emotional weight with Nel - merely a fact she acknoledged. For some reason though, today it irritated her.

"I thought I might ask you that question," Claire said. "Don't you think that patrol duty might be too small a job for the leader of the Blades?"

"This is hardly a patrol," Nel replied, taking care not to look at her friend. "It's already been confirmed that bandits have infested the area. This is a search and destroy mission."

"Well, it is _now_ at any rate," Claire said mildly, but it was enough to set Nel off.

"What exactly do you _want _Claire? I'm sure my frame of mind is well-known by now."

"How could I miss it?" the silver-haired woman replied. "After all, you dumped your problem in my house."

For the first time Nel's eyes met her friend's. "In the first place I did not 'dump' him anywhere - "

"No of course not, you just told him to get out of your house."

"And second," Nel continued, ignoring Claire's interuption, "I never said I had a problem with... that person."

The head of the Shield legion crossed her arms beneath her breasts. "Oh Nel. You're our top operative - I know you can lie better than that."

"I can handle it," Nel said.

"I'm not so certain of that Nel."

"I can _handle_ it."

"Running away isn't handling anything. Fayt has - " Claire began, but this time Nel cut her off.

"Look if - _if_ - I have... difficulties with Fayt, then that's _my _business and I can _handle _my business Claire. I've been doing it for years._"_

Her friend shook her head. "You don't always have to be _alone_ Nel."

Claire's words brought Nel up short. _Is that what you're running from?_ Once more a host of thoughts and images threatened to assault her, but she pushed them away with mental strength born from a lifetime of discipline.

Nel through up her hands. "Think what you want Claire - we're through here. I have a mission to complete." She began to resume her trek, but Claire smoothly blocked her path.

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow that. I have a mission of my own - to make sure you're alright."

The Crimson Blade's eyes narrowed. "You do _not_ want to do this Claire," she said, in a deathly quiet whisper, "I'm not in the mood."

Claire took a step back, but only in order to assume a fighting position. The runes along the silver haired woman's arms began to thrum with magical power. "Your mood is _exactly_ why I think we have to do this Nel."

Part of Nel realized what her friend was trying to do, and was grateful. The rest of her however, had but one single thought:

Release.

Nel snarled a battle cry, and the battle was joined.

One forest. One spear. One rabid, murderous bear.

"This... is the 'Lasbard Family Remedy'?

Fayt stared incredulously at Adray, as the head of the Lasbard household hefted his huge spear - almost twice Fayt's height - and beckoned the boy to follow him deeper into the forest.

"What's the matter boy? Oh, I get it..." Adray nodded to himself, "Aquarian bears not enough challenge for you after all the uglies you've put down eh? Well don't you worry Master Fayt - the papas of these bears used to roam the Royal Hunting Grounds. These beasts could give Crossel a run for his money!"

"Erm... that isn't what I'm worried about," said the boy, wiping sudden beads of sweat from his brow. "All I'm saying is... how is this supposed to help solve anything?"

"Eh?" Adray said, moving in close and bringing his bearded face nose to nose with Fayt's, "You saying that a rousing afternoon of manly sweat and exertion won't get you out of that black mood?"

"Ah, uhm..." Fayt wavered, trying to find a way of telling Adray that that was _exactly _what he was trying to say.

"Besides youngster," Adray continued, "I've learned that most problems in life can be related to hunting a bear - expecially problems involving Zelphers."

Fayt blinked. "Oh?" he said, his interest piqued despite himself.

"Watch and learn boy," Adray said, and stalked into the forest.

_Ah.. what the hell..._ Fayt sighed, and, dragging his own sphere behind him, followed the steps of the elder Lasbard.

"I've known four generations of Zelphers boy," Adray began, "And they're a lot like bears when you get right down to it.

"There are a few things you have to understand about bears: First, they're both proud creatures. You don't spit on bears and come out unscathed. Pride is the source of their power - you kick a dog and it whines - but wounded in a hundred different places, a bear will still stand and roar its defiance. Part of the trouble though, is that the prouder you are, the quicker you feel you've been slighted. But then, I don't need to tell you that do I?"

Fayt shook his head as he ducked under a low over-hanging branch.

"The second thing you should remember about these creatures, is that they live solitary lives. They live alone and they like it - neither easily takes to strangers, and even those who they trust are kept at arms length. Maybe if they didn't grow up in the wild, full of creatures more than happy to eat them alive - but as it stands, most of them have learned the first law of Survival: That at the end of the day, you have no one to depend on but yourself."

Fayt was silent for a long moment as they continued their trek through the forest, stopping every now and then to check for spoor and tracks.

"That's... that's a sad way to live," the boy said finally.

Adray shook his head. "Don't be so quick to judge, boy - sometimes that's the only way to live. Not a lot of people are willing to get near such dangerous creatures - and they're more likely to bite you than thank you if you do - even if you're there to fight on their behalf." The older man turned to look at Fayt and gave him a smile. "But if you're willing to risk life and limb, well... I don't think there's any other who I'd rather have at my side."

Fayt blinked once more, then shook his face vigorously to clear it of a sudden heat. _Why the heck am I blushing - he's talking about bears!_ But the earthling couldn't help but see some of the parallels. Nel... Nel was dangerous, in more ways than one. Since they had returned from Paterny he'd been wondering if it was even worth it to try and clear the air between them - after all, he'd have to leave eventually, and truth to tell, Nel might be better off without him.

But... he _did_ want to be by her side. He wanted to prove to her that she didn't have to be alone, that there were people who wanted to help her carry her burdens, who could be trusted to do so. If it took time and effort, and risking the wrath of the Crimson Blade, then so be it. Their time as comrades-in-arms may be over... but Fayt realized that he didn't want their friendship to end. Not now... not ever.

Fayt looked at Adray with new eyes. _Lasbard Family Remedy, huh..._ Maybe, just _maybe_, the old man had some wisdom to go along with his years.

"Thanks Adr-" the boy began, only to find a meaty hand clamped to his mouth.

"Shhh... hear that?" the old warrior asked.

Fayt blinked, then tried to discover what Adray was talking about. Soon enough he heard it, deep, booing rumbles and the sound of metal against metal.

"And here I thought I'd have to spend the rest of the day spouting nonsense," the bearded man chortled, "C'mon Fayt! Time for battle!"

"But those don't sound like –" the boy called out, but Adray was already charging ahead, bellowing a war cry that probably defeated the purpose of any stealth they'd used up to that point. Fayt took a deep breath, shook his head, and reluctantly followed.

_Then again, maybe he _is_ as much of an idiot as I first thought…_

Huff. Puff. Huff. Puff.

"So…" Claire gulped out between gasps, "Do you… give up?"

"Very… funny," Nel answered, her breathing as heavy and labored as her friend's.

The two women were seated back to back, in the center of what had, not too long ago, been verdant forest. Now however, streaks of burnt foliage and shattered ground lay around the pair, although the two women, though dirty and tired, looked none the worse for wear.

"It's been a long time since we've let ourselves go like that," Nel said.

"Hm," Claire agreed, "Not since our training days. Why was it that we stopped again?"

"Laselle came down to the school and told us that if we wrecked anymore public property, he'd exile us to Greeton."

"Oh yes… I remember now."

Gingerly, and favoring an ankle that was sure to be sore in the morning, Nel rose to her feet, and helped Claire up. Before she disengaged she gripped the silver-haired woman's forearms tightly.

"Thanks," Nel said, "I needed that."

"Looked like it," Claire said with a smile, rubbing her sore shoulders. "I can understand why Tynave and Farleen disappear whenever you get into one of your moods. Even Cliff and my Father… or so Fayt tells me."

The redhead looked away. "How… how is he?"

"Morose," her friend replied earnestly, staring in dismay at a tear in her cloak, "You really could have handled that better you know. Was what he did so wrong?"

"It was moronic," Nel fumed, "He's the savior of Aquaria – of the Universe! In his condition, risking himself, for the sake of groundless slander…"

"Sometimes our emotions get the better of our logic, when we're dealing with matters that concern the people we care about. Wouldn't you have done the same for him?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Nel stooped down to pickup one of her blades. "I would never lose control over some trivial…"

"Father's trying to get him to marry me you know," Claire said nonchalantly.

The blade dropped back into the dirt, slipping from suddenly nerveless fingers. "What?" Nel snapped, as she whirled to face her friend, who had a huge grin on her face.

"See? Even you can't always be in control Nel…" Claire said. "He's as important to you as you are to him."

The Crimson Blade felt her cheeks turn the same color as her hair, "Alright. Fine," she admitted, "Maybe I _was_ a little too… harsh on him." She sighed heavily. "I guess I need to find a way to make it up to him."

"One step ahead of you," Claire said, and handed a rolled up piece of parchment to her friend.

"What's this?" Nel unrolled the document and saw with surprise it contained the royal seal. Her brows shot up. "Enforced Vacation?"

The leader of the Shield Legion inclined her head. "You deserve it. More than that – you _need_ it. Both the Queen and I are in agreement on this – you've been working yourself too hard Nel. A break will do both you and Fayt some good."

"Fayt?"

Claire put a hand on her shoulder. "Nel, I know you had the best of intentions, but I don't think taking Fayt along on dangerous missions is what he really needs to resolve whatever problems he may have."

"It's always worked for me," Nel said defensively.

"Nel, your answer to _all_ problems is work," Claire chided her, "Try something different for once, if only for Fayt's sake. I think we can both agree that making sure he makes a full recovery takes precedence over any other mission you could be given."

Nel stood in silence for a long moment. Claire was right… Making sure Fayt was alright was of paramount importance. But… The idea of taking a leave, even a short one, unnerved her. She hated being idle – if she wasn't working, it felt as if her life was wasting away by the second.

Still, she'd done it before – and that time had been for Fayt as well. Of course, with all the battles that had followed her leaving Elicoor, she could hardly have called it anything _but_ work – yet, she found that, even if this 'vacation' didn't involve battling demons or four-dimensional beings, the idea that she'd be 'wasting' time with Fayt somehow made the whole thing a lot more palatable. In a rare moment of introspection, she remembered how glad she had been when she had seen him again at the Training Facility – that time when she had leapt in to save him, and the second time just recently… Each time she'd been thinking that they had gone their separate ways, and each time she'd been proven wrong. Nel realized she wouldn't mind being wrong for a little while longer…

Nel's eyes met Claire's and the two exchanged a smile. "What would I ever do without you?"

"Let's hope you never find ou-"

As Claire was speaking though, a terrifying bellow echoed through the woods, accompanied by the sound of a large body crashing through the forest.

"Bandits?" Claire asked. "Now of all times?"

Nel smiled. "Useless to the end. What do you say we put them out of their misery?"

Her friend nodded, and once more, the runes of power flashed in the afternoon air.

"Ice Needle!" Nel shouted.

"Photon Ray!" seconded Claire.

"Aaaaaaargh!" said Adray as both spells hit him squarely on the chest, sending him tumbling back into the brush just as he had leapt clear of it. Both women stood in stunned silence for awhile, before Claire rushed to her father's side.

"Father? Is that you?" she asked, sounding concerned.

"Owowowow… Eh? Claire…" Adray winced, "Fancy meeting you here!"

The young Lasbard whacked her father on the head, "What in Apris' name are you doing here? You're supposed to be back home watching- "

"Fayt." Nel said simply, as the blue haired young man stepped into the clearing.

"Er, uhm, sorry about that," Fayt said, not looking at Nel as he helped Adray to his feet. "We were uhm… bear hunting, and uh, he heard some noises over here, and before I could stop him…"

"Bear hunting?" Claire mused, then her eyes widened. "Oh _Father_," she said, in a tone of profound disappointment. "You _didn't_…" She was about to launch another tirade when she saw Nel looking nervously from the vacation order to Fayt and then back again.

"Well, I think I should go and get my Father some medical attention," she said, as she tugged the old man away from the clearing, "You two can find your own way back right?"

Fayt blinked in confusion, but Nel nodded her silent thanks to Claire and said, "Yes, I should finish one last circuit of the area before heading back. Fayt can help me with that."

The two companions watched as Claire dragged away her protesting Father. As soon as they were gone however, Nel felt awkwardness settle around her like a cloak. She'd done Fayt wrong, she knew that – had known it from the beginning really, if she was honest – and she had no idea how to go about setting things right. Apologizing was not something Nel Zelpher had to do often.

Then she saw him rather nervously fingering a long, if crude, spear. She laughed. "Oh I get it – the infamous Lasbard Family Remedy eh?"

Fayt started, and looked at her for the first time since entering the clearing, then joined in her laughter. "You too eh?"

"You forget… I grew up with Claire," Nel said, closing the distance between them with a few short steps. "The last time was when he was trying to convince me that puberty was just another form of bear hunting. I don't think I ever looked at a bear in the same way again."

Fayt grinned. "I know what you mean," he said, then he fell silent, looking pensive. "Listen," he finally said, "I'm sorry about- "

"Forget it," Nel said, dismissing his apology with a wave of her arm, "I'm the one who was at fault. Sorry."

"Oh, no, really it was- "

"Stop insisting, when you know full well- "

They stopped, realizing they both had been talking at once, then laughed out loud. Still chuckling, Nel handed the Queen's missive to Fayt.

"A vacation huh?" Fayt said. "Well you certainly deserve it."

"Yes we do."

"We?"

"We," she said firmly. "I've learned my lesson – you're too much of a troublemaker to let alone. While you're on Elicoor, I'm not going to let you out of my sight."

The boy blinked, then grinned.

"I could live with that."

_Author's Notes:_

_My it's been awhile ;_

_Thank you to all of you for your patience. It's been a rough start to the year for me – computer troubles and school pressure, not to mention sickness – but as bumpy as the road was, here we are – the fifth chapter. I hope it was worth the wait _

_Comments on Some Comments: _

_Jonathan: Yup – small world :P Looking forward to hearing from you too – gotta find time to read your story. _

_Tristan: Glad you like the concept :) As for Fayt's behavior – well, I think that kind of unconscious self confidence was a result of being, in effect, one of the savior's of the world. If you've gone toe to toe with your 'creator' you might have a bit of a problem with assessing other people as threats – especially when you're emotional. ;) But yeah it was hard to do that scene and stay as IC as possible._

_NomadicOne: Yes the Maria and Nel endings are my favorites too _

_Skweeshy: Thanks for pointing out the typo :)_

_Pipp: Many, many thanks for all the reviews and encouragement. It warms the heart to see such enthusiasm – really made me try my best to get this done. _

_Macross-Green: Glad you liked it! And yes, spoiler abound – especially next chapter – so I hope the delays have at least given you the time to complete the game :P_

_Next Chapter: Nel takes Fayt to visit her childhood home, and we learn a little more about what makes our favorite redhead tick. We also take the opportunity to check in on how the rest of the cast has been doing – and not all are having as swell a time as Fayt and Nel, that's for sure. _

_And as a further bonus for bearing with the long delay:_

_VANISHING POINT OMAKE #1:_

_Adray: Well then, Master Fayt. Does this mean that you are _

_currently…single?_

_Fayt: Yeah, you could say so—but why do you ask?_

_Adray: Ah, perfect._

_The camera shows Adray opening his left eye._

_Adray: Wanna marry ME?_

_Fayt: (spews the entire contents of his mouth – and stomach – onto the table) WHAT THE HELL?_

_Adray: What? You've got yaoi fics aplenty with Albel and Cliff… All I'm asking for is some equal opportunity lovin'!_

_Fayt: (Kill me now.)_

_- Yes, yes, pointless I know :P And no, while it's not my cup of joe, I don't think there's anything wrong with yaoi. Unless it involves Adray :P_


	6. Interludes Part I

**VANISHING POINT**

_A Star Ocean 3 Fanfic by Ender_

**Chapter Six: Interludes Part I**

**_MOONBASE; TEN DAYS AGO_**

_Damn all mysteries to hell. _

The young woman leaned wearily back into her chair, rubbing eyes irradiated from long hours - days? - staring at computer monitors.

_In fact, _she continued irritably, _Why stop there? Damn science and its claim the world was reasonable. Damn religion and its claim that life was fair. Damn Moonbase, and Symbological Genetics, and computer screens..._

Maria Traydor took a deep breath.

_And damn our parents and their blasted unbreakable encryption system._

Well. It wasn't like she could blame them for their paranoia. Her mother - adoptive mother, and Proffesors Leingod and Esteed had devoted much of their lives to research which was universally outlawed, and been using facilities that were right under the nose of the Federation - an organization which Maria knew was hardly renowned for its mercy, understanding, or broadness of mind.

Still. After all this time cooped up in the Moonbase research laboratory, Maria was hardly in the mood to be reasonable herself. For the hundredth time, the former leader of Quark wondered why she even bothered with this project of hers.

Even before Luther's defeat Maria had decided that if they managed to save the universe from summary deletuion, she would not return to her life as rebel leader. Even while she had led Quark against the Federation, her entire existence had been geared towards discovering the truth about her origins, and the mysterious power she had been granted. After she had met Fayt, met Dr. Leingod, listened for the first time to the message the latter and his team had left in this very lab - well, for the most part, her questions had been answered. She knew what she - and Fayt, and Sophia - had been born to do; More than that, they had already achieved it. They had crossed over into the 4d World, the dimension which housed the beings who had - as a matter of amusement, as a way to relieve boredom - created their universe and everything in it, only to later, in their callous disregard for the sentience of their own creations, threaten them with extermination. The three of them, along with a band of men and women brave and strong enough to battle with the Creator himself, had succeeded beyond their parents wildest dreams. The laboratory, and all the brilliant, meticulous research it housed, all the secrets their parents had wrung from existence - these had served their purpose well.

So why had Maria found it impossible to leave them alone?

It wasn't solely intellectual curiosity, although that certainly played a role. Maria had always preferred action to academics, but the nature of her quest into her own origins had required her to become intimately familiar with the nature – or at least the products – of the research of the Leingod Team. Whether or not you agreed with their methods, the value of research which had, in effect, saved the universe, could not be understated.

Maria knew however, that her reasons were far less selfless than that. Even after she had discovered the truth about herself, about her mother's work, it wasn't quite enough to fill the void she had felt inside herself, ever since she had lost her parents. The young woman didn't know exactly what she was looking for, what she would need to sate this hunger for the past… but somehow, working in this room where her mother had worked, where Maria and the others had been 'born', peering into the secrets that the Leingod Team had uncovered, she found a kind of contentment that had eluded her for much of her life. The woman she still thought of as her mother, had been her, in this room, typing at this same key. It wasn't much, but it was a connection, however tenuous, that crossed the boundaries of time and death. And if, in the process, she was able to further advance such important research? Well, that was more than a mere fringe benefit. The "Crisis" for which the project had been founded may have passed, but Maria knew that it was a constant of the universe that there would always be a new one around the corner. In the few months since she'd begun her solitary project - supply drops from her former compatriots at Quark provided for her basic needs - she'd already discovered, amongst other things, evidence of a fourth genetic template, a Power, which the Team, for whatever reason, had not been able to implement. She was currently hard at work cracking the code that would unravel the rest of the gene code.

Still, a mind could only take so much staring at genetic structures, even if the betterment of the cosmos was involved. The former leader of Quark pushed her arms up into the sky and arched her back in a long, languorous stretch. She had been analyzing some strange data on Fayt's genetic profile for the past three days, but the fact that she was seeing bunnies skidding across her peripheral vision was a sure sign that it was time to take a break.

Rubbing at her aching temples, Maria retrieved a box of dark chocolate - one of her few addictions - from her fridge, plopping herself down on the form fitting gel-chair as she turned on the holo-view. She flipped disinterestedly through a few dozen entertainment channels, before settling on that of the Pangalactic Independent (hah!) News. As was common nowadays, the reports centered on the massive restructuring and reorganization that the Federation was undertaking, in the wake of the Executioners attacks. The news didn't phaze the blue haired young woman - the Leingod research laboratory had operated undetected for years, and she had taken steps to ensure that the fact it was still in operation was kept secret even from the Federation.

There was also a brief mention of the Vendeeni cutting off all ties with other States, and some scattered rumors that in the wake of the massive destruction wrought by the Executioners, the notoriously rational and scientific Vendeeni had, of all things, found _religion_. Exactly what that religion consisted of, the reports didn't say as very little information was coming out of Vendeeni occupied territories. Maria didn't think much of the Vendeeni - her only interactions with their race had been from behind the barrel of a gun, and while even Quark had been able to completely unravel what they had wanted with the Leingods, their strategies spoke rather eloquently of their character. Then of course, there was the fact that they had been responsible for the way Fayt's father had met his end.

She wondered how the blue-haired young man was doing. Most of the others, had seemed more than happy to return to the lives they had led before their 'Creators' had intervened so directly in their destinies. Fayt however... he had changed. Well, they all had, in various degrees - who wouldn't after all they had learned, all they had experienced (Although she honestly felt it would take more than other-dimensional threats to shake up Adray's pecuilar eccentricities.) But Fayt - he didn't long to return to the way things had been. As much as he might like his Father back, Maria had seen in his eyes that his gaze was fixed on the future, not the past.

So unlike the others. So unlike _herself_.

With a start she realized she had dozed off. A time display at the corner of the holoview showed she had been out for almost twenty minutes. Maria smiled wryly to herself. Given the people she'd met, the places she'd been, it was no wonder she found her recollections more interesting than anything on the holo. Ironically, soon after, it was a commercial that captured her interest. It was short, and almost primordially simple - blocky white text running across a black screen, with strange, meassured music in the background. In this era of almost magical technology, such a primitive presentation would be enough to capture attention, but it was what the words said that made Maria sit up and take notice:

IF YOU KNOW THE TRUTH...

IF YOU BELIEVE THE DREAMS...

IF YOU KNOW WHAT DOES NOT LIE BEYOND...

IF YOU KNOW WHAT COULD LAST FOREVER...

THEN COME.

WE WILL SHOW YOU THE WAY.

data NEVER DIES.

The commercial then flashed contact information across the screen, followed by a curious symbol - a mobeius strip, twisting eternally into itself.

Outwardly, the ad said nothing of substance, nothing that should have set her hackles rising, nothing that should have set her heart pounding. But it did. Maybe it was the sheer strangeness of its presentation, or the crypticness of its wording, but something about it sent alarm bells ringing in her head.

Maria took a breath and shook her head. What was she doing? It was probably a harmless marketing ploy. Or more likely, one of the multitudinous cults that had sprung up, as those are wont to do, in the advent of the massive destruction wrought by the 4D invasion. The inter-planetary governments had done little to explain the origin of the Executioners, but a great many people were seeking answers. Very few however, knew the truth.

Or at least, so Maria had thought.

_data never dies..._

Data...

Why, of all words, had they used _that _word?

The young woman tried to fend off her strange sense of foreboding. Perhaps her fatigue was making her paranoid. Or maybe she was just desperate for something to do that didn't involve genetic code. She smiled to herself slightly. No, she had better things to do than investigate some vague, fatigue-induced hunch.

Like...

Like...

Like doing more research.

When the commercial flashed the contact information across the screen a second time, Maria was on the phone in an instant.

* * *

_**AQUARIA; THE PRESENT**_

The proverbial midnight oil had long since been burned up, but Nel Zelpher continued her battle against the mountain of paperwork that lay in neat, yet intimidatingly high, stacks on her polished oak desk. The sheer amount of paperwork was a sight that would have reduced a grown man to tears, but for Nel it was simply another part of her job. Not that it wasn't a burden - Nel would much rather be in the field, on the frontlines, than behind a desk - but it was, in a way, a self-inflicted burden. Regardless of her own preferences, you did not become the chief intelligence operative in the Kingdom without realizing that the devil truly was in the details. Besides, it had been her father who had first insisted that regular, detailed, written reports be filed by operatives of the Blade - a requirement which had been hard to swallow even in a country with as high a literacy rate as Aquaria - and she had continued the practice.

Even by Nel's standards though, tonight's work was a bit... much. Nel may have been 'coerced' (as she told Claire frequently) to take some time off, but there was nothing to prevent her from finishing next week's work by tonight.

Which as why she was currently cloistered in her oft neglected room at the Palace. Usually she preferred to work in her own home, free from Palace politics (Laselle) and petty annoyances (Laselle). Nowadays however home was a source of... distraction. One which went by the name of Fayt Leingod.

Fayt was, in many ways, a model house guest. He was very solicitous of her well-being - sometimes overly so. As if it wasn't he who was convalescing, albeit rapidly. It was a constant source of irritation for the redhead - It wasn't as if she couldn't take care of herself - she had survived perfectly well on her own. More than survived.

If she was perfectly honest with herself however, Nel had to admit that there was a certain... comfort to be found in having someone to talk to at the end of the day, about work or... well, mostly about work, Nel being who she was. But at least she knew that _someone _would be there, if ever she did find something else to talk about. Someone she admired. And trusted. And found a... pleasing companion.

Most times.

A bone of contention between them was Fayt's infuriating reticence to discuss why he'd come to Aquaria, and in such a pitiful state. The blue-haired young man however, had been less than forthcoming: it was 'nothing you have to worry about,' he had told her repeatedly. Nel knew better. 'Nothing' didn't cause him to wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, eyes as wide as saucers. Whatever it was that was tormenting him though, was something he was not yet willing to share. Nel was trying very hard to respect his wishes on the matter, but the part of her that was a spy was impatient to extract the information by whatever means necessary, and the rest of her was, if truth be told, slightly offended by the apparent lack of trust.

_I don't even know when he's leaving..._

Bruised feelings aside though, she did worry about him. Worry to the point of distraction if truth be told - and that in itself worried _her, which was a fine mess indeed._ Now that they'd mended their brief altercation, she had to admit that the way he ...captured her attention was affecting the way she performed her duties.

It was almost inconceivable - _nothing_ distracted Nel from her work. Her work was, well... it was her life. But when Fayt was around, she just... it was hard to think straight. To focus.

Maybe if he didn't look at her quite so much. Maybe if _she_ didn't look at _him_ quite as oft-

"Nel! Are you okay?"

The voice literally startled Nel out of her seat. She whirled one hand going to a knife at her waist, the other raised to ward off a likely attack. Her blade was halfway out of its sheath before the words of her would-be-assailant penetrated her consciousness.

"Nel! Stop! It's me! Rozaria!"

The redhead paused, blinked, and finally saw the raven-haired priestess of Apris holding her arms out to protect herself. Mentally cursing herself, the Crimson Blade cursed herself and sheathed her weapon.

"How did you get in here?" the redhead asked, rather more harshly than she intended, still shaken by the surprise. Nel hated surprises.

"Uhm... through the door?" Rozaria said, as she smoothed her dress as they both regained their composure. "I've been calling your name for the past two minutes. I was getting worried."

Nel wanted to impale herself in consternation. It was one thing for Claire to sneak up to her - the silver haired beauty, for all her emphasis on a more strategic role, was a soldier of the first order. But Rozaria was a priestess... and a somewhat klutzy one at that, Nel knew first hand. For her to have gotten so close without Nel noticing...

_She's been calling my name? For how long?_

"Nel?

Once more the red-head jerked back to the present. "I... I apologize Rozaria. I've been - "

_Distracted. Preoccupied. Obsessed. - _

"- busy, as of late," Nel finished, rather lamely, indicating the papers still piled on her desk. It was an excuse Claire would have seen clear trhough but Rozaria accepted it at face value - as she did most things.

"So I see," the black-haired young woman said with a smile. "Still married to the job huh?"

Nel nodded, but stayed silent. Now that she had a, somewhat, clearer head, she wondered what Roza was doing here, at this time of night (or early morning as the case may be).In fact, the more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed - Roza always retired early since she presided over the morning worship in the chapel and...

Ah. So that was what this was about.

Confirming her suspicions, Roza's mouth took a downward turn. "It's been... quite a long time since I've seen you. "

Nel felt a stab of guilt. "Roza..." she began, but as if a dam had broken, the priestess began to spill her heart out to her friend, speaking in the rapid-fire way that she did whenever she was feeling intense emotions - a not infrequent occurrence where Roza was concerned.

"You hardly ever come to the chapel anymore, and you used to come everyday... And when I come for a visit, you're out on a mission, or just returning from one and I don't want to bother you but it almost seems like you're avoiding me..."

Nel looked away, and took a deep breath. She had feared it would come to this. "Roza I- " she began, trying to calm her friend down and buy some time to think of a response, but the end of Rozaria's spiel took her by surprise.

"- and you know how important your friendship and approval means to me Nel!"

The Crimson Blade blinked. "Approval?"

Now it was Rozaria's turn to look surprised. "Of the marriage of course. To Arzei. You disapprove, so you've been avoiding me is that not so?"

Nel breathed out, somewhat relieved. So that's why Rozaria was so distraught.

"I have nothing against the marriage Rozaria."

"Politically, I'm sure you don't," Roza said, waving the petty concerns of nation and state away with a flutter of her hands, "But I'm speaing to you now as my friend Nel, and of a marriage between people, not countries. I want to know how you feel."

The redhead shook her head. "Well, you already know I don't like him - "

"But if you got to know him- " Roza protested, but Nel held up a hand to cut her off.

"-but if he makes you happy -which, after 15 years of your tales, I can hardly doubt - then that's good enough for me." She took the priestesses soft white hands in her own. "The two of you are a symbol that we can put all this bloodshed and hatred behind us. More than that, any man who can make you happy is a friend in my books Rozaria, and for that alone I'd love him like a brother."

Tears sprung to her friend's eyes as she heard those words. "Oh Nel," Rozaria gushed, as she enfolded the redhead in a tight hug. "I love you. You haven't changed at all."

Even as Nel returned the hug, and shared in her friends joy, her conscience was heavy. For she had changed. She had indeed been avoiding her friend - but not for the reasons Roza had suspected. It was not that Nel disapproved of her marriage (although despite her assurances, it would be a long time before Nel warmed up to the groom). It was just that visiting Rozaria almost always required a visit to the chapel...

And Nel had not set foot in one since the day she returned.

Nel had always considered herself a woman of faith. Oh, she had never seriously contemplated a life in the priesthood - her father's work had called to her since her earliest childhood - but a woman who had been confident in the knowledge of a benevolent higher power who watched over her people.

_And now..._

Now Nel had seen creatures who lived around distant stars. She'd walked the strange transparent roads of another dimension. She'd learned that they were, had been created to be, playthings of otherworldly powers, and had crossed swords with the Creator himself.

And now she didn't know what to believe.

She hadn't confided this to Rozaria, one of her dearest friends. She hadn't even mentioned it to Claire. Without slighting either, she knew that they would not understand. How could they? Her experiences were now, what was the expression, light-years beyond what even people from Fayt's home had ever known, had ever guessed. Mere words, tales, would never have the same effect.

So Nel was glad that Rozaria seemed willing to forget the redhead's negligence in visiting her, once she was assured of her blessing. It postponed a conversation that she knew they would need to have someday, one which Nel did not relish. Rozaria was a kind and generous soul, but she could be very irrational when it came to things which lay close to her heart.

_Like her husband to be._

Rozaria released Nel and held her at arms length, still grinning in glee. "Oh I'm so glad we had this talk Nel. I'm certain now I've made the right decision."

Nel smiled in return. "Come now. You decided to marry him

the moment he saved your life."

Roza shook her head and giggled. "I didn't mean that. I meant in my choice of maid of honor."

Nel almost fell over in surprise. "You don't mean..."

The priestess clasped Nel's hands tightly. "Oh please Nel, say you'll do me the honor. Please?"

Flabbergasted, Nel could only nod in agreement. This resulted in a yelp of pleasure and another jubilant hug from the excited priestess.

Looks like she would be entering the chapel sometime sooner than she had expected.

"Thank you Nel, thank you. You don't know how much this means to me."

"Don't mention it," Nel said, somewhat embarrassed by her friend's effusive gratitude, "I must admit though, that I'm more than a bit surprised. Have you talked this over with your groom-to-be?"

"Of course Nel - we share everything now, Arzei and I," Nel suppressed a spymasters natural dread at such a comment - considering who the groom was. She also, surprisingly, felt a stab of another emotion, one which she found completely alien.

_Why can't_ we _be like that?_

"He agreed, most readily," Rozaria was continuing, oblivious to Nel's momentary consternation. The priestess smiled slightly. "Although he did ask rather nervously if our seamstresses would be incorproating dagger-sheaths in your dress."

Nel found herself smiling in reply. "Tell him they needn't bother - I won't be wearing a dress. My formal uniform can serve just as well."

"Don't be silly - your outfit is already prepared," Rozaria said over her shoulder as she walked to the doorway. She giggled. "It was presumptuous of me I know, but its been so long since I've seen you attired for anything but war."

Nel sighed. "Must I?" she asked, in a pained voice.

"Consider it a wedding gift oh Crimson Blade," the priestess replied. At the threshold, Rozaria paused, and turned back to Nel, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Besides," the dark haired young woman teased, "you do want Master Fayt's first memory of you at a wedding to be... striking, do you not? For future reference?"

Nel's only reply was to find the heaviest book on her table and throw it at her friend. She hoped that the room was dark enough that Roza couldn't see her face.

Not that she was blushing or anything.

The priestess laughed, and dodged through the open door. "Good night Nel," she called out as her light footsteps echoes in the deserted corridor. "Better act quickly if you want to be more than a bridesmaid next time!"

Nel leaned back in her seat and took a deep breath. She hoped Rozaria kept her mouth shut. The last thing she needed was more rumors about her and Fayt.

_Is it the rumors that bother you? Or is it the fact that they're just rumors..._

Pushing such thoughts out of her head, Nel tried to focus on the task at hand. She had mounds of paper work to finish, and very little time left. Now that Rozaria was gone she should be able to get some work done.

_A bride... me? Not in this lifetime..._

For some reason however, Nel Zelpher got very little work done that night.

_

* * *

_

_AUTHOR'S NOTES_

Sorry for the long delay folks. Late March and Early April hosted my examination week – an ordeal which makes battling Luther at Level 1 seem like a cake walk. April also involved a bit of out of town fun, and an internship, hence I'm only able to release the chapter now – well, not even 'a' chapter, more like a part of one :P But since apparently "Interludes" is going to end up at over 30 pages, I decided that smaller, but more regular updates would do the trick.

"Interludes" (this part and the next two) is difficult for me to write because of a few things – first, I'll be bringing almost all of the rest of the 'party' into the fic over the next few chapters, and since it will be my first time writing these characters, it takes me longer to get a 'feel' for them, their dialogues, motivation and the like. I'll also be introducing several important characters here who are either brand new, or, like Rozaria, are familiar only by name and a scant few tidbits of facts. I hope my take on Roza won't ruffle any feathers – there isn't a lot to go on with her character save for that one PA with Nel, but she's got quite a big part to play in this, and I hope she'll become as real to you as the rest of the cast.

These chapters will also expand the scope of the fic quite a bit, and provide the first hints that this will be a story that will go beyond Elicoor. Vanishing Point was not meant just to be a Nel/Fayt fic – it is also my way of tying off some loose ends or unseized plot points from the original game. The Interludes let me paint a bit more of the backdrop of the 'saga' I hope VPoint will become, and I hope you will bear with the long expositions of the chapters to come. They may be slower paced than usual, but trust me, they have a purpose. In fact I dropped a hint of something here that will be very, very important in the final chapter of VPoint – yes I've got the ending all planned out already ;)

OK, enough babbling. Just been awhile since I've gotten to 'talk' to you guys :P Now here's our usual give-and-take:

Daedulas: Fayt's physical ailments were due primarily to lack of both sleep and nourishment – the dreams were driving him nearly insane, and he was neglecting himself. The dreams are still there, as you see in this chapter, but he's recovered quite a bit because he always has someone – whether it be Nel or Claire – making sure he at least gets to eat. He's still far from 100, but he's well enough to stomp around the woods with Adray. Not that Adray would've cared if he were bedridden :P

Macross-Green: laughs Everyone loves Tynave and Farleen :P While they will take steps to ensure Nel and Fayt have a 'good time', don't count on them tagging along for the trip, since Nel will have to leave _someone_ (or two someones in this case) in charge while she's gone, and Claire already has too much on her platter.

Tristan: And yes, everyone loves the Lasbards too :P

I'm really glad you like the story man – I've been following yours avidly as well (and you far from 'suck' at Fayt/Nel. I actually think you've got her dialogue better nailed than I do ) and it means a lot that you think VPoint is up to snuff.

As for the comedy… well, the situation just begged for it, and I love to do humor whenever I can. I have to warn people though… enjoy it while it lasts.

Oggy: Thanks man, always good to hear from you :)Especially when you come with such effusive praise

Takun18: Glad I could cause you to de-lurk man :) Feel free to keep the comments coming, good or bad!

As for using the Nel/Fayt ending, it was certainly part of the inspiration for the fic, but it just didn't quite fit in – or at least it hasn't yet. That ending implied that Fayt and Nel had already been working together for quite awhile… In VPoint, Fayt hasn't had much time to do much except recover.

Murra: Claire eh? Yes, indeed, it would be interesting. However even if Claire did have feelings for Fayt (and she just might) I can easily see her stepping aside in order to support Nel. I don't think a man will ever come between those two.

But a love triangle is definitely in the offing… three guesses as to who the other party is

Miroku and Sango: Hehe, killing the readers is far from my intent – but making you squirm a little suits me fine (j/k) :P As for longer chapters – the downside to that would be longer time between updates. If I waited before I had Interludes fully complete, VPoint would be without updates till mid-June

EnkiduFish: I'm still somewhat iffy on my Nel portrayal, but I'm glad you like it so far :) I do try to keep her spy background in the back of my head as I write her character, but also have to balance to with the fact that, as she mentions, she's less that totally 'there' when it comes to Mr. Leingod.

And no, you don't want to hear the bear puberty speech. Trust me.

Ultimate Xdeath: Glad you liked the Omake :) I don't do them often, but occasionally, something like that just leaps out :P

Inuart: Better delayed than none at all :D

Mirage/Fayt would be a cool pair – I was depressed at how little we actually see of Mirage in the game. And again, I'm glad that you guys seem to like the characterization… it's always the hardest part.

Noble: Yeah… Can't wait 'till I actually get to do _real_ steamy action sce – (gets whapped by Nel) Ow!

Dimitri Plabato: It's here, it's here! At least I made the April deadline :P

And to everyone else, who spared a few seconds of their time to give me some kind words: Thank you so much. You keep me going

NEXT CHAPTER:

We check in on three more of our good friends from out of town. Who? Here's a hint: Two are Blond and One is the third point of the triangle :P

Meanwhile, back on Elicoor, Fayt and Nel arrive at their destination to discover that things are quiet. Too quiet. (And why are Tynave and Farleen giggling?) Check back in… oh, 3 weeks I hope :D


	7. Interludes Part II

**Chapter Seven: Interludes Part II**

**IVARIA: THREE DAYS AGO**

"Once upon a time, there lived a princess and her knight..."

"Is this a mushy story again?" A voice interrupted, ringing with the innocent – if impatient - crystal tones of youth.

"Shhh!" responded another voice.

"Nothing wrong with mushy stories..." opined a third child.

"Shhh! Shhh!"

After a brief scuffle, the very first voice, that of a young woman, continued her narrative.

"Once upon a time there lived a princess and her knight. The Princess was beautiful indeed, bright of mind but shy of eye, one who lived by the rules of a bygone age. The knight was brave and strong, and if he was a bit dense sometimes - a bit too engrossed in tourneys and jousting - well, it was but a small flaw..."

The young woman spoke on, in a gentle voice which subtly coaxed others into wonder. She told them how one day, without warning, masked goblins invaded the kingdom on the day the Knight and the Princess were to be wed, and kidnapped the father of the Knight, and the Princess herself. Eyes widened at how long and hard the Knight's search was, beset by enemies and disasters of all shapes and sizes: hideous monsters that lurked in ice-filled caverns, dragons whose breath turned mountains to water, bandits with hearts as empty as space. Still, the Knight persevered, gaining trusted companions on his long, hard journey: The Bruiser, the Red Sword, and others, brave and true. Together they waged a great war on the goblins, and fought their way into a Tower with stairways that stretched into forever, and at the top of the heights of infinity, they did battle with the leader of the goblin horde, a mage from another world – and they cast him down. But not without cost – many were the fallen, including the Knight's lord father. As the Knight freed his beloved, her hidden powers awoke, and she revealed to him that as a reward for his valor, the Knight would be granted one wish, which the Princess would make instantly real.

"And the Knight, with tears in his eyes- "

"Children," came a stern voice, crackling with age and much-used authority. "Children it's time for lunch. You can continue the story tomorrow…"

A resounding chorus of protests erupted almost instantly, but the elderly matron who had shouted the warning was unfazed. Her lined face had been scowling at recalcitrant children for so long that her brows seemed almost permanently pressed together.

"Come on now, or no dinner for the lot of you!"

Before the children could decide whether to comply or to launch a full-scale revolt, the storyteller raised her voice. "I'm sorry Sister Mentis – it is completely my fault. I'll just be a little while longer, I promise."

For a moment, the Sister turned her severe glare at the young woman who had spoken, but then, impossibly, even Mentis' rock hard glare softened. "Alright, Sophia – for you, I'll bend the rules a tiny bit." The glare returned as she swept her eyes over the assembled children. "But don't any of _you_ be getting the idea that this leniency is going to become a habit."

The children however, had already turned their attention back to the pretty young woman who sat cross-legged at the center of their group, her shoulder length brown hair lifting and falling gently in the breeze. Sophia Esteed sent a grateful smile the sister's way, then continued her story.

"So the Knight, his strong shoulders stooped with sorrow, looked deeply into the eyes of his beloved. In her eyes he saw all the fame and glory he had received during their journey, saw all his triumphs and victories. But at the same time, he also saw all the death and destruction their battle had wrought on the world. He saw the faces of all those who had lost their lives – friends, comrades, his beloved Father.

"And as his gaze was locked with that of the Princess, as the ghosts of the past danced between their eyes, he took a long, deep breath, closed his eyes and breathed to the Princess his most ardent wish:

" 'I wish', he said, 'that none of this had ever happened.'

"And when the Knight opened his eyes, he saw that everything was back the way it was, before the war had started. He saw his Father and Mother holding hands as they walked towards him. He saw his friends, alive and well, celebrating his wedding… And finally he heard the words of the priest, and turned to see the Princess, his wife, with her face turned upwards for a kiss.

"The Knight smiled, and met her lips with his… and they all lived happily ever after."

"The end," Sister Mentis' said with finality, as she clapped her hands together loudly. "Now you little monsters get in there, or so help me I'll serve _your_ scrawny little hides for dinner!"

The children laughed, recognizing the threat for the sweet endearment it actually was, and bowed gratefully to Sophia before speeding towards the doorway to the orphanage, their high and joyful voices calling out their thanks and simultaneously cajoling, begging and demanding that Sophia return the next day to tell another story. As usual however, a few of the more discerning children hovered around the young Esteed as she rose to her feet.

"What was the Princess' name?" asked Regina, a little girl with pig-tails and a slight overbite.

"Well, no one remembers anymore. It's been a very long time after all," Sophia said, then ruffled the girl's hair, "Maybe she was called Regina."

"How long ago?" piped in Agos, a felinefolk child with stripes like a tiger's.

"Well, let me put it this way – people believed there was only one planet back then."

"That's sooo stupid," huffed another boy, his hands on his hips. "You can see the others with a zoomscope."

"Sorry… They didn't have any of those back then." Sophia smiled.

"What?" Agos cried out, "How about holoviews? They _had_ to have had holoviews then right?"

Once more Sophia shook her head. "Sorry guys… no holoviews either."

The assembled children lapsed into stunned silence, trying to imagine a world which didn't have access to 24 hour 3-Dimensional cartoon programming. Sophia had to suppress a giggle at the expressions on their faces. She wondered how they would feel if they discovered that some places in the galaxy were like that, even today… places where _electricity _was still being discovered.

The shellshocked young orphans soon turned their minds away from such impossible imaginings, and all but one hurried to join their companions before their share of lunch was devoured. The one who remained was a slim, quiet Expelian lad named Laen. His oversized ears wiggled in agitation as he stood before Sophia, and tried to work up the nerve to ask his question. The young girl knelt before him and took his hands in her own.

"Do you have something you want to ask me Laen?" she asked gently, "Go on, you can tell me… Don't be afraid…"

The boy's voice was almost inaudible. "I-I don't want you to get mad…"

"I won't. I promise."

"I-I mean, I really do like listening to you Ma'am Sophia…" he stuttered.

Sophia cocked her head to the side. "But…"

The boy's words came out in a rush. "But next time can you tell a real story please?"

The young woman blinked. "Huh? But I did tell a story…"

Laen shook his head vigorously. "No it wasn't. Nothing happened. It was just a dream. The Knight woke up and things were the same."

"Things did happen," Sophia tried to explain, "It's just that in the end, the Knight wished for things to go back to the way things were."

"That's what I mean – nothing happened!" Laen insisted, his voice growing stronger. "It's not a story if nothing changes! Maybe if- "

"Maybe if you ran to the dining hall right this instant I won't turn you into meat loaf hmmm?"

Laen whipped his head around and gave an 'Eep!' of surprise when he saw Sister Mentis looming behind him. With speed that would have done a starship proud, the Expelian zoomed into the orphanage.

"Hmph," Mentis said, crossing her arms. "Everyone's a critic I guess."

Sophia watched him go with a sigh, then rose back to her feet. "I so wish you wouldn't scare them off like that."

"Hmph," the sister grunted again, "The fear of a good spanking is the only way you can get any of these little terrors to listen." She allowed herself a small smile. "They're good kids really… But allow them just a little bit of wiggle room, and before you know it, it's a galactic wormhole."

Sophia giggled. "It can't be as bad as all that…" She looked at the chronometer on her left wrist and blinked. "Well… it seems I _did_ get a bit carried away. I've got to go I'm afraid…"

"Won't you at least stay for the meal?" Mentis asked, taking both of the younger woman's hands in her own. "You know the children would love that."

"So would I!" Sophia exclaimed heartily, "But I really must get a move on. I'm meeting someone in an hour and while I doubt he'll be on time…"

"Oho! Someone special is it?" Mentis chortled. "Well, don't let me keep you from Master Leingod…"

Sophia blinked, then blushed furiously. "No, no, it's not Fayt… We'-we're not like that…"

"Whyever not?" the sister exclaimed, "From all the newsvids, you seem to make a perfectly good pair!"

"Sister!" Sophia protested, aware that she was growing flustered but unable to do anything about it. "Shouldn't you be – I don't know – warning me to guard my virtue or something?"

"Heavens yes, but for two of the saviors of the world, I can make an exception. This debased universe of ours needs a few more quality people 'getting together' if you know what I mean," she said, sending an exaggerated wink Sophia's way.

"Uhm… I really must go," Sophia said, before she turned and fled. The sister's words stayed with her however, even as her feet took her to the gates of the orphanage. If only she _were_ meeting Fayt…

_Oh Fayt… Where are you?_

_

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_

Sophia waited impatiently at the table she had reserved at _Auvergang's_, a large, crowded, multi-ethnic restaurant in downtown Baerlon, the main city in Ivaria. Ivaria was not a major player in the socioeconomic life of the Kappa Sector, where it was located, but like many other planets with land and basic resources to spare, it had acquired a new prominence as a planet of shelter for a small number of the trillions of refugees and planetless persons left in the wake of the attacks of the Executioners, like the orphans she regularly visited. Perhaps this was the reason why even here in this little backwater, people like Sister Mentis knew her name, and Fayt's name, and even those of most of their companions as well. The Executioners and those who had brought them low were subjects of universal concern and, as a result, the constant subject of media attention and speculation. There were millions of data sites and forums devoted exclusively to each of them… There was even a cult that had sprung up which devoted itself to worshiping them as gods. Gods! Sophia couldn't even get the tangles out of her hair every morning, and some people were out praying to her for miracles!

This unwanted celebrity was why she was wearing a subtle facial mask that disguised her features from both physical and electronic means of observation, and why she had booked this particular restaurant for the meeting. Her friend had assured her that the restaurant took great pains to ensure the privacy of its patrons from any prying ears or eyes.

Of course, all the secrecy in the world were useless without someone to speak secretly to!

"Y'know," a smooth, deep male voice intoned, "If you drum your fingers on the table any harder, one of them is gonna break – and I'm betting on the table."

Sophia's irritation vanished in a second. "Cliff!" She exclaimed, rising to accept the bearhug from the blonde Klausian. Like her his own face was disguised – but in a much less subtle manner, the extent of the alteration consisting of a large, obviously fake moustache.

"Haha! You're looking well," said the once-and-again leader of Quark, the Federation resistance force. "Nice disguise too – I might not have known it was you if you hadn't told me what you'd be wearing!"

"And you're looking… uhm… like yourself," Sophia replied, rather lamely, unable to tell him that his disguise wasn't much of one at all.

The two friends sat back down, and Cliff quickly ordered three servings of the largest meal available, as well as a steady flow of alcoholic – or poisonous, Sophia wasn't quite sure – beverages.

"So how have ya been?" the Klausian asked, "The papers and equipment we fixed you up with keeping you outta trouble?"

"Yes, thanks…" Sophia nodded. When she and Fayt had wanted to assure their privacy – and that of their parents – Cliff and Quark had been more than willing to come to their aid. As an underground organization that had been operating at cross-purposes with one of the largest intergalactic organizations in existence, Quark had by necessity become very, very good at evading detection. Too good at times… and that was the source of her current dilemma.

"So your parents – ah, over here babe thanks," the blonde digressed as a large steaming platter of medium rare meat was placed before him, "And Fayt's mom – the safe house still working out for everyone?"

"Well… Yes… my parents… Aunt Ryoko are fine…"

Cliff chomped down on what seemed to be an entire leg of… something, then emptied his mug of alcohol before continuing. "Aw, that's sweet – you mean, you called me over for a meet coz you missed me?" The big blonde grinned, "What would Fayt say about that eh?"

Sophia turned her eyes downwards. "Well, the truth is…"

"Oho, don't tell me - " he leaned in closer, "You want some advice from the looove master! Well, I have to admit it's not often I get asked for advice from a lady, but hey! A certain level of assertiveness makes for a fine piece of- "

"Wha – no!" Sophia said, her face coloring a deep red for the second time that day, "Why does everybody assume that Fayt and I – oh that's not even the point!" The girl stared intently into Cliff's eyes. "He's… he's missing Cliff…"

Instantly all levity was gone from the Klausian's expression. "Fayt's missing? How? When?"

"I… It happened two weeks ago," she began, but Cliff interrupted her.

"Two _weeks_?" he asked, incredulously, "Sophia why didn't you get in touch with me sooner?"

"He said he just needed to clear his head!" the girl replied helplessly, her hands going to her head, "I… He said he needed some space, some time to think. I – I thought it might be best for him. He'd been having dreams – nightmares – all the time, not sleeping, not eating… I didn't know what else to do!"

"Whoa, whoa," Cliff said calmly, reaching out and taking the girl's shaking hands. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound… I wasn't blaming you Sophia. I'm just worried – there's something fishy going on here… For now, just calm down, and tell me what happened."

Sophia took a deep breath. "I'm – fine." Another breath. "I can deal with this. I'm just – I'm worried as well. What do you mean something fishy is going on? What's happening Cliff?"

The blonde shook his head. "Later. How'd Fayt get off Finti?" the Klausian asked, naming the remote, independent planet which contained the safehouse where Sophia's parents, as well as Ryoko Leingod, had been relocated, protected from the machinations of the various powerful factions who knew of the import of their research.

"He used that special warp-craft you gave him," Sophia said, "The one which was equipped with the Universal Cloak. There was no way I could track him – even if I could get someone to do it discretely – without going through you and Quark."

"So he left on his own then?" Cliff mused.

"Yes – why wouldn't he?"

He didn't answer her at first, drumming his fingers on the table. Then he turned to her with serious eyes. "Maria's gone missing as well."

Sophia's eyes widened. "M-maria?"

Cliff nodded somberly. "She sent me a message saying something about looking into something – a cult that had achieved a certain amount of prominence amongst the Vendeeni. She told me she'd be back within the day – and it's been a week, with not a peep from her." He crossed his arms and frowned. "It's not like Maria to be late, especially not this late. So I headed to Moonbase to check out her place and - "

"Back up a second," Sophia interrupted, an urgent concern piercing through her worry, "Maria was staying at Moonbase? I thought she'd gone to Estoch. What was she doing on Moonbase?"

The Quark leader's eyes widened slightly, then he muttered a curse. "Damnit… guess I shouldn't have said that huh?"

"Oh Cliff…" Sophia whispered, her voice despairing, "I thought we'd agreed to bury that place, to destroy it and all of the Leingod team's research! Aunt Ryoko and my father were adamant! It's served it's purpose – now it's knowledge that's much too dangerous to have!"

"You don't understand Sophia… For Maria, that research facility… She thinks it's all she has…" The Klausian shook his head. "Anyway, we agreed it was dangerous – but we never said we'd destroy it. It would be more dangerous _not_ to have it when we needed it."

"We're never needing it again! Ever!" Sophia shouted, then lowered her head as other patrons of the restaurant turned her way. "We won Cliff – we _won!_ It's _over!_"

Cliff's face was impassive. "That's what I though – that's what I still think. Maria though… Maria's not so sure. Did we win?"

Sophia closed her eyes. Her grip on the arms of her chair was so tight she thought her knuckles would pop out of her skin. "That's what Fayt asked me as well. Right before he left…" The girl swallowed once, then looked into Cliff's eyes. "Cliff… What's going on?"

The big man looked serious for a moment more, then sighed hugely and threw up his hands. "Damned if I know – could be something, could be nothing. We could just be paranoid – if Maria's investigating a cult, going to ground wouldn't be uncommon, and Fayt could just be blowing off some steam in some new gaming planet." That last brought a smile to Sophia's face, even if she knew it was far from likely. After Gemity, Fayt had never quite looked at games in the same way…

"But you don't believe that, do you?" Sophia asked him softly.

Again Cliff sighed. "Nope. Call it a hunch if you will but… those two disappearing, at the same time? With this Vendeeni cult on the rise? No… No I don't think we're being paranoid at all."

"So what now?" she asked finally, "How do we find Maria? How do we find Fayt?"

"Well, if things are connected, one might lead to the other – but neither is going to be easy," he stood up, "There's a reason I gave that ship to Fayt – it's damned hard to track, even for us – and we made the damn thing! I'll have Mirage start up a trace… It'll take some time – a week, perhaps two – but if he's still on the Soykaz, then I'll find him. Maybe I'll have better luck finding him than finding Maria."

"Great," Sophia said, also rising to her feet, "When do we leave?"

"_We?"_ Cliff blinked, surprised, "I thought you'd sworn off adventuring for life Princess."

"I did," the girl replied, "But I don't have much choice now do I?" Then her lips turned up in a small but determined smile. "Besides – sometimes, there's nothing wrong with the Princess going out and saving her Knight…"

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_OOC_

_Hm._

_Well... _

_No excuses. Apologies to everyone who liked the story for the inteminable wait. Priorities tend to shift and change a lot when you're nearing the end of formal schooling._

_For those who are still interested, I am dead set on trying to finish this fic within the year, or at least regularly update it. I still have a story to tell, and for those who are still willing to bear with me, I hope that it will be worthy of your loyalty._

_Will be cleaning up the earlier chapters as well - did a little bit of retconning too. Hope Sophia and Cliff's dialogue explains why Maria didn't ask for help from the old Leingod team - much belated thanks to intrasonic for pointing out this possible loophole from Chapter 7. _

_This was supposed to be a longer chapter, but again I split it in two. More Fayt Nel goodness next chapter - I'm trying to get my "feel" for the characters back. Hopefully the rust didn't show too much with Sophia and Cliff... _

_Again - apologies to all, and for the few who remain - welcome back. Every single chapter from here on out is dedicated to all of you _


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